A Killer's Heart
by BurntPickle
Summary: Yukio Chi lived a normal life with no real excitement. The sixteen-year-old was due for something cool to happen, but she never expected the twist in her life to be a demented murderer who was able to break out of an asylum. But was he really as bad as they said? It's not like he was Kira or anything. No, he was just a strawberry-jam-loving-freak. With a knife. No big deal. BB x OC
1. Late for Class

**Hello there :) This is my second story, but I created this because I was exhausted of writing about the same plot. This will be my side story until I finish The Unlikely Team, my first one, so the update rate may be a little slower.**

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I want to, I don't own Death Note. But I've love to meet the lucky man who does.**

**Warning: One of my characters _is_ gay, so if you have a problem with my character mentioning that, then just go ahead and click the back button now. And for all you Yaoi fangirls/fanboys, there will not be any Yaoi written in this fanfiction, only brief mentions of a character's sexuality.**

* * *

I shoved a fistful of Cheerios into my mouth and chewed on the cereal as I watched the Food Channel. I was flopped back against the couch with the box leaning against my side. My parents weren't home yet, but they should've been getting back from work in an hour or so.

I was never a huge fan of the Food Channel, but there was nothing else on. So I watched as the cook cracked some eggs into a pan and starting swirling the yolks together. It was making me hungry, but I had no cooking skills. Opening the cereal box was difficult enough.

But suddenly the screen went black. I frowned and stared at the screen until it turned back on, but this time a news reporter was on the screen with a terrified look on her face.

"We interrupt this program to announce to you that an insane murderer has escaped from the asylum where he was being held." She said frantically. A picture of a young man zoomed onto screen. I stopped mid-chew and narrowed my eyes at the picture. Yep, he definitely did belong in that asylum. With his wild, large, round eyes staring straight at me with his incredibly dark eyes, and his wickedly bone-chilling curved smile telling me to go and jump off a cliff before I came within a mile radius with the guy. I had no doubts that he was insane, that's for sure. His dark hair was an unsorted mess on top of his head, and many of the strands fell over his eyes, almost disguising him completely. The only thing that scarred his pale skin were a few burn marks.

"If you see this man, do not approach him. I repeat, do _not_ approach him. React casually and continue what you were doing, but when you get the chance call the police. He is known for carrying knives and wearing jeans and a baggy white long-sleeved shirt."

I swallowed the cereal and moved the box to the ground so I could lean forwards and prop my elbows on my knees to rest my chin on my hands. _If this guy can break out of the asylum, then he must either be extremely smart or extremely strong. He could be a combination of both, but judging on the shape of his face and shoulders, he probably isn't stronger than the security there._

"This man is known for killing large numbers of people with either a knife or his bare hands. Police suggest that you lock your doors at night and close the windows and blinds." The reported said with a very stern expression worn on her face.

I yawned and glanced over at the clock. It was already eight o'clock. I had stayed up late last night studying for a test, and woke up early this morning. It may not be cool to be tired at such an early time of the night, but it's not like anyone had to know.

I reached for the remote and turned off the TV. I stood up and started walking towards the kitchen with the cereal box in hand, but the dead silence was unnerving. I felt the urge to curl back up on the couch and fall asleep to the voice of the cook.

_Grow up, Yukio._ I told myself with a slow shake of my head. _You're not a little girl anymore. You can't hide under the covers with a stuffed bear to make things better. _

I pretended like I convinced myself, but secretly I knew that I was scared. I mean, who wouldn't be scared of some serial killer roaming the streets with that grin on his face? I knew I wouldn't be forgetting that smile for a long time, and that was just a picture. I shuddered at the thought of actually meeting him in real life.

I put away the cereal and starting going up towards my room, but I stopped halfway up the stairs. I pursed my lips and gripped the banister until my knuckles turned white.

I didn't want to, but I felt safer being able to watch the door at all times…

I reluctantly turned around, marched into the kitchen, snatched a knife, and went back to the couch like I had wanted to all along. Sure, my mom would probably question me about it. My dad would definitely laugh at me for being scared even though the chances of meeting him were so slim. And yeah, my pride would be gone by the morning, but did I care? No. Okay, yes, I did. But in my room, I wouldn't be able to hear the knob turning, or the door opening. From the angle the couch was positioned at, I could watch the door and know if someone was coming in the moment they started picking the lock.

Call me paranoid, but _I_ won't be the one bleeding to death in my sleep.

I shoved a pillow into the space between the cushion and the arm rest and then fell onto it. I then tucked the knife in the crack between the cushion and the arm rest with the hilt sticking out just in front of where my nose was, since I was laying on my side. If the killer decided to come on in, he wouldn't have time to walk over and strangle me before I ripped the knife out and fought back. Or, at least, that was the plan.

I sighed and let my eyes flutter shut after turning on the TV to listen to the sound of eggs being fried in a pan. It definitely wasn't the most sleep-influencing sound, but it somehow calmed my nerves a little bit. If I was in dead silence, I'd flinch at every little noise made. And Lego, our cat, definitely wasn't going to be a quiet little angel tonight. When the moon was up, so was his energy. I'd always hear his little kitten claws scratching across the floor as he darted back and forth.

Eventually I did drift off into a light sleep that would probably sink into something much deeper since I was exhausted, but it took some time to manage to persuade myself that I the killer wasn't right in front of me, waiting for me to open my eyes and scream.

* * *

I woke up to a cold little nose rubbing on my cheek. A furry body rested on my chest and slowly woke me up. The small body vibrated at a steady pace.

I opened an eye and stared at the tiny black kitten that was trying to get me up. I sighed and smiled at the same time, and then lifted a hand to stroke his fluffy back. He stared straight at me with a pair of large green eyes that looked so much like emeralds.

Lego was an amazing cat. He was sweet, cuddly, _and_ playful. But, like every cat I'd heard, he had his own special dark side. There was no way to predict it, but he'd suddenly come out of nowhere and attack you. Since he was still a kit, he didn't truly understand that claws actually hurt human flesh. I'd even been asked once if I had cut my ankles on purpose. It was extremely hard to explain that such a small creature could make such marks.

He mewed quietly, but then continued purring up his own storm. Lego had one of the loudest purrs I had ever listened to, yet a soft voice.

My eyes drifted over to the clock. Seven-thirty…

…

SEVEN-THIRTY?!

I pushed Lego off of me as gently as I could with the amount of speed I shot up with. I bolted over to the clock and clutched it in my hands. Yes, I read that right. Oh dear, oh no…

I raced up the stairs and into my room. I was supposed to be leaving for school in ten minutes. Classes started at eight o'clock sharp.

I threw on the first pair of shorts that I found on my floor, which just happened to be the pair of black denim shorts I wore yesterday. I almost put on the same shirt that I wore with the shorts, but then tossed it aside and dove into my closet and ripped out the first shirt I could, and that was a simple royal purple top with no designs on it.

Why had nobody woken me up earlier? My parents normally made sure I was awake before leaving for work, since I wasn't much of a morning person unless I had to be, like today for example. I didn't even wake up last night when they got home. A trust me, they usually weren't ever the silent type when it came to coming home from work.

The brief thought of them being killed came and went through my mind. No, they wouldn't have been killed. Maybe I was just dead asleep and didn't hear them. Yeah, that's the most logical explanation. I _was _exhausted.

I hurried into the bathroom and scrubbed the sleepiness off of my face while washing it with a cloth. I only had about five minutes to get ready before I had to be running towards school. I was used to leaving early and having a casual walk to school, but now I'd definitely have to pick up the pace quite a bit.

Applying makeup with like trying to draw underwater. My face was still damp from washing it, even though I brushed my teeth just before trying to put on makeup to try and dry my skin. The eyeliner smeared slightly and the mascara didn't really stick as well as usual.

After two minutes of trying, I gave up. My pale grey eyes were going to have to be boring again. I wasn't like those girls who spent three eternities in the bathroom on just one eye, and then another eon or two trying to fix my hair to look right. On a regular day, I only took about twenty minutes if I was in the mood to actually straighten my hair. But today I just swept my brunette hair back into the sleekest looking ponytail I could manage and called it good.

I let myself have a quick once over in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. I looked like crap and probably could have taken a little more time on my appearance, but it wasn't like I was trying to impress anybody. I was single and not looking for a new boyfriend. I was still hurting over my last boyfriend, who had hooked up with a girl that was two years younger than me, and when I met her, I knew why. She was gorgeous, unlike me, who was just… average.

Yeah, I wasn't anything special. But I didn't complain, since I never tried to stand out in the crowd anyway. I preferred to just blend in and be unnoticed. It was easier that way. I never had to deal with crazy rumors about being pregnant, and I wasn't forced to spend fortunes on new clothes so I could be in style at every breath. Average wasn't so bad. The only thing I didn't like was that average was easily overlooked when there was better out there.

I snatched the same box of Cheerios out of the pantry and forced a pair of shoes onto my feet. Yeah, I was taking my breakfast with me. People had seen me doing worse in the mornings. One time I fell asleep in class and started mumbling about wanting a chili dog. And I even drooled a little before someone nudged me awake.

"Thanks Lego!" I called over my shoulder before shutting and locking the front door. I owed that cat a treat since he woke me up.

Crap. I probably should have fed him.

I almost went back inside, but then ripped the key out of the door and then took off with my Cheerios. He wouldn't starve within the next eight hours that I'd be gone. He might not be happy about it, but he'd survive.

Running to school and eating a box of cereal was not the easiest thing to do. I kept spilling handfuls of Cheerios down my shirt and onto the ground. I was sure that I had a nice little path of circular cereal to lead me home.

With only five minutes to spare, I burst in through the school doors. A few people wandering the hallway stared at me. I couldn't have been a pretty sight, but I flashed a forced smile and continued on my way.

I jogged down a hall to my locker and entered the combo to swing it open. Then I shoved my cereal box in there and reached for my Biology text book, when… it wasn't there.

Had it been stolen by someone? That didn't make any sense. I never gave my locker combination to anyone. Wait, didn't I bring it home yesterday?

My head snapped up in realization.

"Oh no…" I whispered.

In my head, I pictured the place where I last saw it. Sitting on my kitchen table with last night's homework bookmarking a certain page.

I closed my eyes and banged my head against the back of my locker repeatedly. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…" I muttered under my breath in between the loud thuds I made with my forehead.

"Yukio? What are you doing?"

I paused for a moment before backing out of my locker, only to look up at Akira. He was staring down at me with a confused expression on his face.

I blinked a few times before actually realizing what he said. "Oh. You know, just partying in my locker and all. Woot, woot."

He frowned. "That doesn't make much sense." He reached down with a hand and fixed the part of my hair on my head. I opened my mouth to ask him why he was doing that, but then I remembered that he was gay, so this wasn't some kind of flirting attempt. It was a shame to all girls that he was gay, because Akira really wasn't all that bad looking. He had nice dark brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes, but he was also quite brilliant in his own way.

He lowered his hand to help me up. I took my best friend's hand and stood. "Thanks, Akira."

He grinned and dropped my hand. "No problem. Now, what seems to have you stressed?"

I sighed. "I woke up late and in my rush to get here, I may or may not have forgotten my Biology homework."

He chuckled. "Yes, it is obvious that you were in quite a rush." His eyes dropped and I followed his gaze to my Cheerio-covered belly.

I groaned and brushed the cereal off of me with a hand just as the bell rang. That's when I stopped caring if I was late or not, since it didn't really matter anymore. I probably should've just gone home.

"Why aren't you in class?" I asked and crouched back down and went back to fishing through my locker, this time for a pencil.

"The teacher asked me to go and deliver a note to the office. I was on my way back and came across you." He patted my head. "Now that you've reminded me, I should be getting back."

I craned my neck back to look up at him. "Go ahead, get back to class."

He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "You sure?"

"Of course."

He nodded once and then turned and walked away. I sighed and pulled a pencil and a notebook out of my locker before slamming it shut with the Cheerio box inside.

I stood up and leaned my forehead against the metal door with my eyes closed. I didn't feel like going to class today. Maybe it was just me, but on a morning like this, I had a feeling that something else was bound to go wrong.

Eventually I gave in and dragged my feet down the hallway and pushed the classroom door open. As soon as I did, all eyes directed themselves at me. I grinned sheepishly and did a little wave. "Sorry, just ignore me."

I expected my teacher to start questioning me, but she didn't. In fact, all of their gazes moved back to the front to watch something on the screen.

A picture of that killer on the loose was on the screen, and a different reporter was in the middle of speaking.

"Based on a witness's report, he should be around the Tokyo area. There have been no reports of recent crimes caused that we've seen, but still take precautions. Remember to lock all of your doors and keep your windows shut. Keep a charged cellphone on you at all times in case of emergencies. And please do not approach him, simply ignore him like he is any other person on the streets."

I grimaced and eased myself down in my seat. I wasn't really hoping to have an insane killer stressing me out all throughout the rest of the day. I already had enough to worry about. A loose murderer wasn't something to brighten my day.

"Hey, Yukio." The girl next to me nudged me with an elbow. I perked up and glanced over with raised eyebrows. "Do you think it's true?"

"What do I think is true?" I looked over at the screen. "If you're talking about there being an insane psycho on the streets, then yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not some horrible joke they're pulling on the entire community."

She sighed. "No, I mean L's involvement."

L? As in, world's greatest detective L? She couldn't have been talking about some other L, because I knew nobody else who went by the name/alias L.

"Oh, I didn't even know he _was_ getting involved. Isn't it a bit soon though for him to take action? He probably has ten and a half billion other things to be doing. Catching one guy can't possible interest him that much."

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's just a rumor. But I guess you're right. L mostly works on big, really cool cases." She smiled and stared at the screen. "L is so cool." She whispered longingly.

I nodded slowly and turned my complete attention back to the screen.

So there was the possibility that L could get involved? I really doubted it. Some idiot probably was wondering out loud if L would solve it, and then someone else heard it and _boom_, a rumor began to spread. That was the best solution I could come up with. Unless L really _was_ picking up the case, and then that told me that we really were screwed if we saw this guy.

Suddenly the intercom in the ceiling beeped, and the teacher muted the news reporter with a press of a button.

"Teachers and students please pardon this interruption, but we are going into lockdown for necessary precautions. Please do not panic, but if you had any plans to go outside, please cancel those lessons. That you for your cooperation." And then the female voice that had made the announcement hung up.

I gasped softly and blinked with my mouth dropped open. Lockdown? No way. Why would they do that? It wasn't like the threat was… here…

Oh God, he was around! He just had to be! Why else would they go into lockdown?! Lockdown was strictly for emergencies and nothing else.

Panic twisted my stomach into a knot, but I bit my lower lip to try and cover up my fear with the sharp pain of piercing my lip with a tooth. I licked the blood off of my lip with the tip of my tongue to keep it from dribbling over onto my chin. That certainly would raise a few suspicions. I _already_ look dead this morning.

Students muttered to themselves or those around them quietly, clearly unsure of what to think of the odd coincidence.

I sighed and rested my cheek on my hand lazily. Stress was starting to tug on my mind, and I couldn't swat it away. What if the killer was out there, waiting for us to walk out so he could plunge the blade someone's chest? What if that someone might end up being me? The thought sent an uncomforting chill down my spine.

The teacher turned off the projector and walked over to stand in front of the board, facing the class. "Alright everyone, settle down." She paused for a moment to wait for the whispers to turn into silence. "Now, for today's lesson, we'll be…"

I didn't care to listen to the rest of what she was saying. I was actually still shocked that she didn't rip me in half as soon as I walked in. And even more to my surprise, she didn't collect homework right off the bat! Apparently the little announcement about the killer's freedom shook her up enough to make her forget.

I'd never been so grateful for a murderer in my life. If I ever met him, which I could only pray that I wouldn't, I owed him a thank you.

I sat through class, bored as ever. We basically reviewed what we learned yesterday. Now, I wasn't a super smart girl who could figure everything out just like that and ignore the lessons. Nope, I was just a really great studier. Since I didn't have any real hobbies – unless you'd count sleeping and eating as hobbies – I had a bunch of free time. Once I finish up with the daily chores around the house, I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. So I end up reading the textbook and learning all that we were taught in class.

No, it's a terribly unreliable method, so don't try it. If you have questions, you have to rely on Google or whatever search engine you use, to give you answers. And sometimes I don't understand a word I read. That's never good.

But I've managed to get through my classes with nothing lower than a C, so that's all good in the hood.

After what felt like going through the apocalypse of boredom, the bell rang, and we were excused from class without the teacher even glancing over at me. And I wasn't about to walk up to her and ask why she turned a blind eye.

* * *

"When do you think they're gonna call off the lockdown?" I asked Akira, who sat across from me, before taking a bite of the most disgusting spaghetti ever. I gagged on it the first few times I tried to swallow, but eventually got it down.

He shrugged and picked at a salad. Or, 'salad'. It was just a mess of lettuce with a little ranch poured on top. Apparently the school ran out of fresh vegetables, and all that were left were the… not-so-fresh ones. "Depends on when the threat disappears. And that may not even be until much later."

I nodded slowly and took a sip of water. "Do you think it's just a bad coincidence that there just _happens_ to be a deranged killer on the loose and we just _happened_ to go into lockdown when he just _happened_ to be in the Tokyo area?"

"Oh, come on Yuki, are you saying that you're scared?" Akira teased, using the girlish nickname he occasionally called me. Sure, Yukio was supposed to be a guy's name. But you know what? My parents didn't care. Screw society and their opinions. I was Yukio, not Yuki. Yuki was too cute for my parents. And I believe that they secretly wanted a boy anyway, but settled for a girl.

"No, _Kira,_ I just think the two pieces look too similar, that's all." Kira was the nickname I used for him, and he _hated it._ Ever since the Kira case started a few months ago, he'd been a total anti-Kira fan. I also wasn't liking Kira's sense of justice, but I thought it was funny to annoy my best friend with that nickname.

I decided to continue my explanation for the heck of it. "I can't be the only one who is totally convinced there is a killer staring at us through a window. I've never been someone to believe in coincidences of this size. Sure, maybe running into your recent ex while you're with your new boyfriend is some back luck for you, but it's completely possible."

"Yes, you're right about that Yukio, but that doesn't mean he's right outside. Maybe they're just taking necessary precautions in case he does show up."

I frowned. "Since when has the school taken extra precautions? Lockdown is a big thing, Akira. It's not like we do this every day."

"I know, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. Nobody is going to get killed, if that's what's freaking you out."

"I'm not freaking out!" I said defensively. "I'm just… I don't know…" I paused for a moment and stared sadly at the table. "What if he somehow gets inside? I mean, if he can break out of an asylum, then why wouldn't he be able to break into a school? We don't know what exactly we're up against."

He shrugged "Like I said, there's no need to worry. Besides, even if this killer does show up, I'll defend us all." He held up two fists and put on a tough face.

I snorted and covered my mouth to keep from spitting the contents out, no matter how bad it tasted. "I'm sure you will, Akira."

We laughed together until our eyes watered and our sides hurt. Akira and I had been friends for five years now. We met back when we were both eleven. He was new to the community and couldn't speak much Japanese back then. Since I was the kid who sat beside him in class, I translated the best I could, but my English wasn't any better than his Japanese. We ended up always getting in trouble for laughing in class from our foolish attempts at speaking the other's language.

I smiled as my laughing fit finally came to an end with his. My mood was somehow much better just from laughing. "Akira, you know I love you." No, it wasn't gushy relationship love. It was like brother-sister love, but without the constant bickering. We'd already agreed that we'd completely friend zoned each other, despite how often we get asked if we're dating.

He grinned and gave me a thumbs up. "Love you too, Yuki."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head with a grin.

* * *

**Okay, yeah, I know I didn't include anything about Death Note except for the small part about Kira and L's involvement. Don't worry, L and Light will eventually be included also. Might end up with a little one-sided Light x OC.**

**Akira and Yukio belong to me.**

**Thanks for reading, if you got this far! I know it's a little boring to start out with, but I can't jump right in yet. But there will eventually be action.**

**If you have read my other story, I bet you noticed a significant different in text. This chapter has about a thousand/two thousand extra words, depending on the chapter you're comparing this one to. That's because I'm working on making the chapters longer, and I guess better, also. I _was_ going to include Beyond in this chapter, but then deleted another thousand words because I decided to make it wait for a little later XD**

**Please follow, favorite, and/or review! I'd love someone to critique my work, also, so I can get better and make reading my chapters more enjoyable.**

**~BurntPickle**


	2. Beyond Just Your Ordinary Day

**For the record, I still don't own Death Note, and I don't plan on trying to buy it either. I'd really like to go to college eventually.**

* * *

At the end of the school day, once the lockdown was lifted (Which was, like, an hour later than it was supposed to be), I pulled out my cell phone while I leaned back against the building, munching on the Cheerios that smelled similar to my locker. After dialing my mom, I put it to my ear.

I had a short list of reasons why I was calling her;

One: I wanted to know why my parents didn't wake me up this morning.

Two: I was a little worried about them, seems how I hadn't heard from them in a while, and the whole killer on the loose problem was really scaring me.

And three: I needed to know if we were doing anything for dinner tonight.

But after a number of rings, it went to voicemail. Worry tugged my lips down into a frown, but at the tone, I erased all concern from my voice.

"Hey, mom. Just wondering what's up. I didn't hear you guys last night. Give me a call when you get the chance. Love you." I ended the call after that and shoved it back in my pocket.

I sighed and leaned my head back against the bricks to stare up at the cloudy grey sky. She almost always answered, being a receptionist. Terrible thoughts invaded my mind, and there wasn't anything I could do to shove them out.

What if they really did get killed last night? No, that's impossible. This morning there weren't any reported murders, or disappearances for that matter. If they were killed, somebody probably would've found the body, or bodies, by now. It was too soon to call in a missing person report.

I shook my head hard to try and distract my thoughts. It helped a little for the time being, but I could feel the worry surrounding my mind, waiting to break down the temporary walls.

I peeled myself away from the wall of the school and started on my journey home by myself. I continued to snack on the cereal absentmindedly while walking, lost in thought.

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

Hidden within the branches and leaves of a tree nearby the tree, it would be incredible if anybody saw him. He crouched low on a sturdy branch and pressed a hand to the truck for extra support. It felt amazing to move freely again. It didn't take much time at all for the muscles of his hands to remember how he held his knife. Flipping it around carelessly was a little harder to re-master, but after a try or two, he got the hang of it yet again.

His round eyes watched the girl as she walked down the sidewalk with a large yellow box in her hand that she was constantly digging her hand into and drawing out what looked like cereal. It reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything lately. His craving for a taste of strawberry jam was difficult to suppress, but the desire to feel the warm stickiness of fresh blood was even harder to ignore. And a scrawny looked teen would be no trouble at all.

There was a certain tension in her muscles that he recognized of a stressed person. Maybe taking her life would be doing her some good. At least in death she wouldn't have to worry anymore. She'd just be… dead.

As she crossed directly underneath his position in the tree without even glancing up, he dropped down and landed in a crouched position, similar to a cat ready to pounce. He'd quickly slash the knife through her back and make it a quick kill before leaving. It'd be enough to frighten the surrounding community and start chaos, but they wouldn't have a single witness. She was completely alone and isolated…

When his toes touched the concrete of the sidewalk, her entire body went rigid and she whirled around without even pausing her step. That caused her to stumble back a pace or two, but as soon as their eyes met she froze on the spot with her mouth hanging open.

He smirked and lifted his arm to aim the knife straight at her throat. Then he tilted his hand up, ready to flick the blade towards her with just enough force to imbed itself into her skin, when she thrust the open side of the box towards him and scattered the contents all over him.

Confused and surprised, he focused more on shaking the cereal off of him rather than killing her. He even popped a few of the pieces into his mouth, only to find that they were completely tasteless and dry. He scraped the top of his tongue on the roof of his mouth to get some of the bland mush off.

He blinked and stared at her, completely baffled that she hadn't screamed yet, but instead thrown _cereal_. Not even the box itself, only what was inside. How did she expect that to do anything to him? She had been eating them, so they certainly couldn't be harmful to touch.

The killer used the flat side of his blade to scrape some of the cereal that clung to his clothes off, but his eyes never left hers. It wasn't that he was interested with her looks, because really, he had seen better. Her pale grey eyes were quite boring and could really use some livening, and her face wasn't really that stunning. But he could consider her… cute. Innocent, one could say. Or maybe it was just the large size of her eyes that gave off that acquitted aura.

But what did intrigue him was her reaction. Most people who recognized him would scream, cry out, or beg for mercy. But she didn't say a word. Or, at least, she hadn't yet, until he could tell that her thoughts were finally put together.

"Oh, sorry." She lowered the box and stood up straighter instead of staying in her defensive pose. Her voice was totally casual. Did she not know who he was? Maybe she didn't have access to a television. "You scared me." She grinned sheepishly and looked down at the spilt contents that laid on the ground. "Yeah, that's my fault. Really sorry about that." She began scratching at the back of her neck nervously, her elbow tucked close to her chest.

She glanced over her shoulder for a brief moment before looking back to Beyond. "Look, I'm kind of on a tight schedule. I sort of forgot to feed my cat this morning. He probably isn't happy that I'm taking my own sweet time."

An excuse, and he knew it as soon as it slipped off her tongue. It was obvious that she _did_ know who he was, but was pretending that he did not just point a knife at her and cause her to fling a breakfast food at him. If he was more of an idiot, he might have decided to kill her right then and there because of her bluffing. However, Beyond was not an idiot. Psychopathic, maybe, but not idiotic.

He chuckled softly and lowered his blade completely. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." He copied her relaxed tone of voice and put the blade back in his pocket to appear harmless. "Are you alright?"

She blinked a few times before actually giving a response. She had probably expected to be lunged at and attacked, yet he did not. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's not your fault. I'm quite a jumpy person."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows, though they were behind his mop of hair, and there was very little chance that she could even notice the slight change. "Is there a reason for that?"

Her jaw twitched before she spoke. "I really don't think that's any of a stranger's business." Her voice came out a sharp hiss. She was apparently getting more confident seeing that he didn't attack immediately.

"Forgive me." He apologized after a moment to choose his words carefully. "I guess it is quite rude to ask personal questions when we haven't even shared names." He extended a hand. A polite, humane gesture. "The name is Beyond. Beyond Birthday, actually."

She flinched at his unusual name and looked down at his hand. She hesitated quite a bit, but then put on a confident mask and slid her hand into his for a friendly shake, but her muscles could not lie. Her entire arm was poised and prepared to jerk away in the event he pulled his knife back out on her. As much as he wanted to do so, he decided to wait a little longer. Strawberry jam could wait.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

After shaking his hand, I retreated back a step just to be safe. He was even freakier in person, but in a way, not. Most of his burn marks that had been shown on the picture were mostly healed, only leaving faint scars on a few of the worse parts of his skin. Instead of the crazed psychopath that I had expected, he was much more… talkative. No, that wasn't the right word for it, but I didn't have a perfect word to describe him with.

"Yukio." I replied with a nod. Beyond Birthday? Was that even an appropriate name for a child? Maybe his parents were drunk of high when he was born. Man, that would suck to find out your parents were intoxicated in the most important moment of your life.

His smirk didn't falter for a moment. "Isn't that a boy's name?" He asked with a curious tilt of his head.

I pursed my lips in a half-hearted forced smile. "Yeah, you're right, it is."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you go by Yuki? It's much cuter."

I really didn't want to be rude, but seriously, how many times have I been told what I should refer to myself as? "And isn't _Beyond Birthday_ kind of a strange name on its own? I don't think you have much room to be telling _me_ what to go by."

His smirk grew more mischievous, which I had no idea was even possible. "Touché, Yuki_o_." He replied with quite an extra enunciation on the 'O' part.

I scowled. "You're kind of a jerk." I muttered. "First you made me spill my snack, and now you're mocking my name. How do you have friends?"

He chuckled. "Are you really stupid enough to believe that I have friends?"

"Do I need to remind you again that you're a jerk? I believe I just said it less than twenty seconds ago." I placed my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes. "Calling someone stupid isn't nice."

He rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket to pull his knife out again. Yep, I had gone too far. I should've just kept my mouth shut. I _was_ an idiot to try and outwit a psychopath. No, not because I thought he could beat me, but because he could _kill_ me, and that's not good.

Before he could start to attack if he wanted to, I quickly continued with a different conversation. "Beyond, can I ask you a question?"

I took his silence as permission.

"Have you killed anybody yet, ever since you broke out?"

He grinned. "So you_ do_ know that I'm a killer."

Shit. I forgot that I was pretending I didn't know. Oh well, I guess it's a little too late now.

"To answer your question," He continued. "No, I have not killed anyone lately. You'll be my first victim in a while." He finished his sentence with the most gleeful grin I'd ever seen, which was really bad when he was talking about killing me.

I winced. "Hey now, you already made me spill my Cheerios. I don't want to spill my blood, also. One mess at a time, Beyond."

He sighed, and his lips fell into a slight frown. "You know, I'm amazed at your bravery. Most seventeen-."

"Sixteen." I corrected. Technically I'd be turning seventeen in a month, but I was still sixteen for now.

"Fine, sixteen. As I was saying, most _sixteen_-year-old girls will start bawling when they actually realize what's going on. But you haven't shown nearly as much fear as expected."

I shrugged. "Maybe after all that time in the asylum you lost your edge."

Okay, truth to be told, I was about ready to break down in fear, but I wasn't allowing that to happen while he was still around. Just like he had said, I wasn't doing as he expected. If I did end up bursting into tears, then I'd be done for. If I was right, he was curious as to why my reaction was different than the rest, and that's why he hasn't scooped out my innards yet.

He sneered. "I highly doubt that." The knife was raised to poke the space in between my collar bones. I felt the sharp point piece the soft, unprotected skin with just a little push, and next a warm, thick liquid trickled down my chest to stain the cloth of my shirt. The tiny droplet tickled as it fell and I had to really fight the urge to swipe it away. "Scared yet?" He taunted.

I blinked and held a straight face. "Not really." I lied. "You're just a douche with a knife. What's there to be afraid of?"

I thought I caught a look of awe that crossed his face, but maybe I was just seeing things.

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

How could that be? Is it really possible for someone to not be afraid of him? Maybe she had no knowledge of his extreme past. Once she learned it, then she'd probably immediately cower in fear. Becoming the world's greatest murderer to try and surpass his predecessor was definitely not as impressive to a normal person as it was to Beyond.

Still, it shocked him how calm she looked on the outside. Through her eyes he could only barely see her fear, despite being held at knifepoint.

He could feel his hands twitching, thirsting to easily stab the knife through her throat while the blood runs over his wrist, only to slip off of his arm and pool at his feet. The temptation was extremely difficult to deny. It felt like torture. He didn't really understand just why he hadn't killed her yet. Everything in him was telling him to just do it and get on with life. But, what if she had been right? The asylum may have made him go… soft?

No, that's impossible. He had to prove her wrong. He tightened his grip on the knife until a few of his knuckles turned white. Beyond hadn't withdrawn the tip of the knife from her neck yet, still trying to decide what to do for his next move. Kill her? Not kill her? The decision was his to make, though he was hesitant this time. It was a strange feeling that he was not comfortable with.

_I should just kill her and get it over with. It's not like I'll regret the result later._ He thought to himself. Just as his arm tensed to shove the knife deeper into her throat, a horrible, bloody scream pierced the air, and it didn't come from the girl. Now, Beyond had heard many similar screams in his life. Most of them were full of terror, regret, or sadness. But this one was just flat out… annoying.

He cringed at the sound and withdrew the knife out of human instinct, and then instantly jerked his head over to find source. The girl, Yuki-chan as he'd call her, did the same. But instead of having a more annoyed expression on her face like he did, she looked surprised and then fearful only seconds afterwards.

Beyond narrowed his eyes in suspicion down at Yuki-chan. It was kind of funny how short she was. Her eyes would only come level with his collarbone, despite her age that wasn't too far behind his. Though her lifespan was definitely not as long as a normal teenage girl's that was in her health. It seemed that she only had about a year to live.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

I gasped at the sight of my mother – yes, my own mother – being shoved to the ground by a stranger after she let out an ear-murdering cry. She landed hard on her palms and knees, which couldn't have felt good. I didn't know if she had seen me, but that didn't matter. My mom was being put in a dangerous situation right in front of me, my father was nowhere to be seen, and I was out of Cheerios.

Totally not my day.

"Mom!" I yelped and raced forwards, still clutching my cereal box. Maybe I was emotionally attached to it or something, but I hadn't put it down yet.

At the sound of my voice, she looked over with wide eyes. "Yukio, no, go home!" Her voice shook with an unnatural fear that I had never even imagined was possible for her.

The man stood over her with a dark mask pulled over his head and face. He also wore very heavy looking black clothing. If he wasn't so tall and broad-shouldered, I'd never have been able to tell he was a guy. In his hand was a gun that pointed the barrel at my mom, his finger tempted to pull the trigger.

I stopped abruptly about thirty feet away. My mother's eyes flitted back and forth from me to her attacker. Oh, once she glanced at Beyond, but dismissed his presence quickly. She slowly rolled over onto her back, but as she did tears spilt over onto her cheeks. "Please…" I couldn't hear her say it, but the way her mouth moved was enough to let me know.

The man squatted in front of her and put the gun right up to her forehead. I bit back a scream, but my mom did not. Her cry was followed by sobs and pleads and plenty of tears, but instead of taking pity on my innocent mother like a good man would, he swung his arm over to point the gun at me.

I stiffened and took a shocked step backwards to keep my balance. I saw my mom shaking her head, and she wailed in fear and horror. I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing I could forget that sound. It made a powerful chill straighten my spine. Hearing your mother scream like that… it wasn't something a child wants to hear.

When I opened my eyes again, there were only a few quick seconds before something whizzed past my ear, nearly clipping the organ off completely, and then impaled my mother's attacker. It sent him staggering back, gasping for a breath. He shot off a few times before falling to the ground, and not moving again.

I whimpered and turned around, only to find Beyond standing a few paces behind me. He wore the most casual expression for what he just did. Then again, he had done it before.

"Why did you… do that?" I asked him as my eyebrows drew closer together.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Do I have to have a reason?"

"Well… I thought you wanted to kill _me_, but instead you just saved both my life and my mom's."

A sly smirk grew on his lips. "Jealous, Yuki-chan?"

I flinched at the way he referred to me. I wanted to slap him for it, but even I knew that wasn't such a good idea. "Of course not. But it just seems quite… contradictory, if you ask me."

He chuckled and gracefully walked forwards. He ignored my mother's gracious praises and kudos, and instead retrieved his knife from the bloody corpse. Crimson liquid splattered as he tore the blade from the body, but that was nothing compared to the blood that covered every inch of the knife. It dripped down in thick drops onto his hands. There wasn't a spot on the shiny blade that wasn't dyed red, but the hilt was nearly spotless. It was a long throw, but perfectly aimed, timed, and released. I didn't want to be, but I was slightly envious of that kind of talent.

It took a moment for my mom to realize that she was being disregarded by Beyond, but when it finally clicked in her mind, she scrambled up to her feet and nearly flew over to capture me in a tight hug.

I tripped backwards from the force of her hug, yet just barely managed to keep my balance. Somewhere in the time from when she got up to when she reached me, she burst into another round of tears, but I could tell these ones were mournful and drowned in sorrow.

"Mom…" I mumbled, blinking back worried tears that had just tightened my throat, making it incredibly hard to breathe. "Where's dad?"

Her sobs turned into the same frightening moans that had already scarred my ears. But these ones were even worse because I now knew the reason. They made my chest squeeze and my knees grew weak. I almost crumbled to the ground, but that would have made my mom fall with me since I was her support, and I really didn't know if either of us would have the strength to get up.

"It's okay, baby…" She whispered in between two sobs quickly when she was able to catch a breath. "He's in a better place."

I could _feel_ my soul shattering right inside of me. I gritted my teeth together and took in a shaky breath. My dad… was killed. Probably while I was at school. I never even got to say good-bye. Sure, I wished him a good day the last time I saw him, which was when he was headed off to work, but I hadn't taken the time I actually hug him, and stare into his eyes that looked so much like mine.

I gnawed on my lip and closed my eyes to encase the tears inside. I couldn't cry just yet. I hated crying in front of other people. I would always hold in my tears and wait until I was alone to let them out.

I stared at the ground in shock. My body wasn't operating correctly, so after a moment or two I sunk to the ground at my mom's feet, who didn't take long to crumple up next to me. My body felt numb, and for whatever reason, I didn't want to move from this spot.

And then the thought struck me; Beyond basically just saved my mother's life. If he hadn't killed her attacker, I would've become an orphan without even knowing it for quite some time.

My eyes drifted up to the insane murderer, who was gazing down at the lifeless body of his victim. He was at a strange angle with one shoulder blade turned to face me, but I swear I saw a smirk curling his lips. The bloody knife dangled loosely at his side in his hand, which made a little red puddle under it. His other hand rested in the pocket of his jeans.

I had never seen such a relaxed man in my life, but here I was, staring at the most comfortable person to ever meet my eyes, and he just happened to have recently killed a man with the most amazing knife throw I'd ever witnessed. I can't say I was totally okay with him and his… hobbies… but I certainly didn't think he had the intention of gutting me on the streets. I imagined killers being creepy guys who like to cause his victims much pain before killing them. If Beyond wanted my last moments to be horrible, he would've let me watch my mother die or let me get shot by the other murderer that I'd seen today. But he did neither. The only thing that he had actually done to make me mad was piece my neck lightly with the tip of the knife, and make me waste my Cheerios.

Apparently, after me watching him for so long, Beyond finally glanced over with his huge, circular eyes. Yeah, his eyes were a little creepy, but if someone knows something – anything – about Beyond that _isn't_ creepy, I'd love to know.

I immediately went back to staring at the ground. How was I supposed to respond? Tell him thank you? I wasn't too keen on encouraging him to stab more people, even if he did do a great deed to me. Maybe I'd buy him a candy bar or something as a gift. Yeah, I can see it now; me shoving the chocolate into his bloodstained hands with a big grin before saying, _"Thanks for killing the man who almost killed my mom! Here's some chocolate as a token of my gratitude."_ Yeah, I didn't think so.

"You don't exactly look happy, Yuki-chan." Beyond said from beside me. I flinched and looked up at him, confused on how he was suddenly there without me even noticing. He didn't look the least bit concerned, but was probably just stating the obvious.

"Oh. Sorry. I'm not really all that thrilled right now." I said bitterly. The moment the words left my tongue, I regretted it. Beyond didn't really do anything to piss me off, but I was still upset, and he was the only one to vent my anger to. I knew better than to snap at my mom, because she would probably just snap back at me. And then things would really be screwed.

"I noticed." He replied, unfazed. I almost questioned him about it, but decided against it immediately. It wasn't worth it. "Your father was killed, I assume?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but then clamped it shut and pursed my lips before nodding stiffly. I was at loss for words, so there wasn't much use in trying to say something cool. Instead I just stared at the ground and tried to act as passive as possible without coming off completely insensitive.

"I'm sorry," My mother picked herself off the ground and wiped her eyes with the pad of her thumb before extending her other hand. "My name is Keiko Chi. It's a pleasure to meet you, but I hadn't planned on it in such a way. Are you one of Yukio's friends?"

"Not exactly." Beyond said with a smirk.

"Oh." My mother looked a little surprised. "Then… who are you?"

His smirk grew even more dangerous, which couldn't have possibly lead to anything good. "Beyond Birthday." He replied.

She frowned. "That's a… unique name, Beyond Birthday."

"Mom, have you watched the news lately?" I interrupted suddenly before Beyond could do anything to make the conversation more awkward.

"What? No, not recently. Why?"

I cringed. "Oh. That explains a lot of things."

Beyond chuckled. "I never realized how helpful television really is." He mused aloud.

I breathed out a sigh and nibbled on my lower lip for a moment. "I know you're really gonna get freaked out by hearing this, so you might want to take a few steps back."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yukio, what does the news have anything to do with this?"

I gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, turns out Beyond is a murderer who just broke out of the asylum, to keep the story short."

* * *

**Look who showed up! It's Beyond, of course. As one of the main characters in this fanfiction, I couldn't possibly leave him out _too_ long. I will have more Death Note characters included eventually. Maybe not them all, but definitely L and Light, possibly Misa, and maybe Near, Matt, and Mello.****  
**

**I decided to try different Points of Views. I really like how I wrote Beyond's POV. I don't know why, I just do.**

**So, if you like this chapter, please review :) If you haven't already, I'd love if you'd favorite or follow this story. It means a lot to me. ^_^**

**~BurntPickle**


	3. Just Let Yourself In, I Guess

**Death Note? I don't own it.**

* * *

My mom stood there with the most horrified expression marking her tearstained face. Her eyes were almost as round as Beyond's, which was quite impressive. With her mouth agape, she looked back and forth from me to the insane serial killer.

"He… sorta-kinda broke out of the asylum." I continued as I stood up, my voice threatening to croak. "And now he's here, obviously."

"Y-Yukio… you mean to tell me… that you're friends… with a murderer?" She stuttered many times as she spoke.

My palm twitched at my side, begging me to slap it against my forehead. "No, we're not friends. Not after making me spill my Cheerios in such a way." I licked my lips nervously and motioned to the box that I had dropped without even realizing it earlier. It laid on the ground, empty.

Beyond snorted under his breath. "_That's_ what's keeping up our hatred? I was sure it had to do with my past hobbies." He muttered with a confused frown.

I smirked halfheartedly and nodded numbly. "Okay, maybe it does include that little bit of information, too."

"So… Beyond Birthday, you-"

"Please, call me Beyond. It's much simpler." He interrupted my mom quickly.

"Oh, alright then. _Beyond_, how did you two meet?" She asked with a shaky voice. I knew she was afraid, and heck, I was too. I was just too emotionally wounded to show it at the time. The first second that I get alone, I'll be bursting into tears. But until then, I didn't give myself much of a choice but to hold in the sobs that were squeezing my throat.

Before Beyond could answer, I answered for him, fearing he might say something to make the situation awkward. "He wanted to kill me. That's all."

She gasped. "Then…" Confusion soaked her completely. "Why did you…?"

"Why did I what?" He asked, his mouth curving into a smirk.

"Why did you…?" She started again, but like her first try, the rest of her words didn't make it. "I don't understand. If you had the intention of killing my daughter, then shouldn't she be dead?"

He sighed and closed his eyes. "Certain… interruptions… forced a change of plans."

"Liar." I hissed a whisper under my breath.

He slid one eye open and stared at me under a low-lidded gaze. "How so?"

I knew I was daring into a conversation that was bound to go bad something in the middle, but I ignored my subconscious that was trying to get me to shut up, and I continued talking. "If you really wanted me dead, I'd be dead already, wouldn't I? Clearly I'm still alive."

His lips tugged downwards and he opened both eyes. "What makes you think I wanted to make your death a quick one?"

I forced myself to plaster a confident smirk on my face. "You seemed to be hesitating quite a bit, Beyond. You don't seem like the kind of killer to take his time and give the police plenty of time to come and get you."

**Beyond's POV**

His mind raced to come up with a good answer. He hadn't thought that she had noticed his indecision earlier. By killing Yuki-chan's mother's attacker without a moment to think it through, he had only made it more obvious to her that he did like keeping his kills quick.

"On occasion I take my time when I'm certain that there is no need to rush." He answered smoothly, his lips lifting into a lopsided, sly grin that imitated hers. Even though he had the confident, relaxed appearance on the outside, his mind was actually quite frantic. The truth was; he didn't know why he didn't stab the blade through her throat immediately and let her bleed to death on the cereal littered sidewalk. The idea of morals that formed somewhere in the past year was absurd, but it was more possible than the inkling that he actually appreciated her presence, because that was more impossible than a beautiful Shinigami.

"Is that so?" She countered. Her eyebrows rose expectantly. If he hadn't known she was hiding her sorrow, he would've been convinced that she knew what she was doing. But Beyond knew better than to think that such an ordinary girl could lose a close family member without shedding a tear. He had seen true sadness and fear in peoples' eyes before. It was fairly obvious that she was containing her feelings to prevent showing weakness, even if she was doing quite a good job of it compared to her mother.

Maybe she was also hiding her anxiety towards him. If he was feeling so flustered, then she was ought to feel threatened. Surely she knew better than to challenge a demoralized killer in such a conversation. Was she thinking her words out as carefully as he was? Her responses weren't slow, despite the amount of thought he suspected she had to go through to come up with a proper reply.

"I may not be too keen on the idea of torture, but you weren't doing a very good job of showing the proper reaction." He pointed out. "Throwing cereal wasn't your best idea."

"What was I supposed to do?" She snapped. "I don't know how to fight someone like you!" She paused for a brief moment. "But hey, it worked, didn't it? I mean, you were fazed, and I lived."

She _did_ have a point. She did surprise him earlier. Or, at least, her reaction surprised him. But that still wasn't a good enough excuse for why he didn't just advance forwards and kill her when he had the best chance. It wasn't like she had tried much to stop him, except for the cereal incident, but that was a petty effort. He could have killed her right then, right there. No, he _should_ have killed her right then, right there. There was nothing good enough about her to keep her alive. All that crap about everyone having potential? Yeah, he didn't believe that. Either you were born with it or not, and for someone who was due to die in roughly a year's time, there wasn't much potential in her left.

Though, he was curious as to how she was to die. The one flaw he knew about The Eyes was the lack of reason of death. It would be nice to know if he was putting someone out of a future misery, or maybe making their death even worse than it was planned to be.

"Hey, you still there?" A sudden sharp tap on Beyond's forehead jerked him back into reality. He blinked a few times before actually realizing that he had been staring at Yuki-chan's lifespan for quite a long, awkward pause. "Did I really strike you speechless?"

"No." He answered, putting a bored expression on his face.

She frowned. "Okay then? That's all of an explanation I'm going to get?"

"Yes." He walked past her, nearly crashing their shoulders together in the meantime. A smirk pulled up the corners of his lips and he spoke, "And you should be content with that. It's not like I'm obligated to say anything else."

**Yukio's POV**

I stared/glared at his back as he walked away. Somewhere in that pause of our conversation, I knew something in his mind changed. Maybe he came to some strange conclusion and was totally convinced he was right. Whatever was going on in his mind, I really wasn't all that interested in knowing. I just wanted to know that he wasn't planning on following me home and killing me in my sleep.

Oh dear. Is this what the beginning of paranoia feels like?

"Wait a minute." I grumbled and jogged after him. "Beyond!"

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder with a blank look on his face, yet a slightly curious look in his large, round eyes. "Hmm?"

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I just noticed you haven't killed me yet, despite your original intention."

He chuckled and craned his next back at stare up at the sky. Maybe it was an attempt to avoid my gaze. Maybe not. "What makes you think I had the intention of killing you?"

I blinked, dumbfounded. Apparently taking my silence as some kind of answer, he flicked his gaze at me once more before turning his back towards me and walking away without another word. I stood there, mouth partially agape, trying to figure out what else to say.

He had to be kidding, right? A killer doesn't drop down, cause someone to spill their cereal, kill their mother's attacker without even a hint of hesitance, and then walk away like nothing happened. No, killers don't do that. That's something a more heroic person would do, and I just couldn't see Beyond doing something heroic. Maybe it was in his eyes or something.

* * *

My mom and I were both pretty down by the time we got home. We walked home together in a horrible silence. It was then that I almost broke down, but I bit my cheek and quickened my pace, desperate to get any kind of privacy to release a little bit of the tension inside of my chest.

So as soon as I locked myself inside of my bedroom and slid my back down the door to curl up into a ball on the ground, I was more than ready to let myself be devoured by sobs and sadness.

In the midst of my little party of sadness I pulled my phone out to call Akira to beg for a little comfort, since my mom probably wasn't coping very well either, but I never hit the dial button. His number was just there on the screen, tempting me to call him.

The biggest thing that kept me from calling him was the confusion I was feeling. I didn't want to mention Beyond to him over the phone. I needed him to be face-to-face with me. I don't know why, but it just felt off trying to explain it to him over the phone, where he couldn't see my face and I couldn't see his. It was just… awkward.

I clutched the phone to my chest and closed my watery eyes. My body trembled with every breath I took. My throat was sore and my nose felt heavy. Limply I bowed my head onto my knees and breathed through my mouth, basically gasping for a full breath that my lungs refused to take. I didn't know why I felt so… strangled, but I did. I was never a girl to cry a lot, since I always told myself that it could've been worse. But now, I really didn't want to try and be optimistic. I wanted to whine, complain, and even scream. Most of all, I just needed someone to _listen_ to my complaints. They didn't have to respond – just be there and pat my shoulder to ease my panic. Too bad my mom was probably doing the same thing I was.

With some effort, I pushed myself off the ground and grasped the doorknob. It took a few moments to get used to standing up, but after that I swung the door open and started to head towards the kitchen.

I glanced down the stairs to see my mom's door was shut. Yep, it was definite. I wasn't the only one having a total breakdown in this house.

I opened a cabinet to grab a bowl, but then slammed it shut and dragged my feet to snatch the entire gallon of cookie-dough ice cream out of the freezer. Nobody paid attention to serving sizes these days except for healthy people who will most likely outlive me by thirty years. But hey, if Beyond shows up and I have to run, I'm sure I'll burn off any and all calories gained in my frantic attempt to escape.

I grabbed a spoon and hurried back towards the room with my favorite movie tucked under my arm while I dialed Akira. He'd understand, and he'd be over even if he was in the middle of a date, which I highly doubt he was.

After two rings he picked up. "What's up, Yukio?" He asked.

I nibbled on my lower lip for a moment before getting up the nerve to actually talk. "Can you come over?"

There was a brief pause and I was actually worried he's say no, but instead he responded with a voice dumped full of concern. "Yukio, you sound upset. Is everything okay?"

I nodded, not that he could tell. "Yeah." I breathed in and held my breath before letting it all out in one big rush of air. "No. Everything is _not_ okay. I need my best friend's butt to get over here and watch The Lion King with me while I mope. Oh, and bring some ice cream because I don't want to gorge myself all on my own. And I don't plan on sharing."

"You got it. I'll be over in two minutes. Don't start it until then."

The Lion King was our favorite movie. We could recite it word for word, frame for frame, if anyone asked. And every time at least one of us cried when – spoiler alert – Mufasa died. It didn't matter if we had seen it so many times before. Nobody can get through that movie without getting a little chocked up.

What felt like an eternity (Was actually, like, three minutes) the doorbell rang. I flew to the door with a foolishly enormous scoop of ice cream in my mouth, the spoon still hanging out through my lips.

I threw the door open, only to see Akira standing there with his own tub of chocolate flavored ice cream. His hair was dripping with water, as if he just got out of the shower before I called him, and he didn't bother to try and dry off. His car was parked in my driveway next to the space where my mom usually parked her van. It wasn't there, though, which meant she ditched it sometime earlier and somehow ran home. Great.

"You look like crap," Was his first comment as he looked me up and down in place.

"Yeah, I know."

"Don't tell me you got emotionally attached to something and you lost it."

"No. Come in." I left the door open. It shut a second later, which meant Akira was inside.

"Are your parents home?"

I cringed and froze midstep. I felt my throat tighten up again, so I shoved another mouthful of ice cream down to force myself to not cry. "My mom is." I answered weakly.

He stopped beside me and looked down at me with a frown. "She is? I thought…" He looked over his shoulder for a moment before looking back at me. "Hey, Yukio, are you feeling alright?"

I shook my head numbly and sunk to my knees, the spoon still hanging out of my mouth. "No, not at all…" I mumbled.

He crouched down beside me and pressed a palm to my shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything, right? We're not best friends for nothing."

I smile halfheartedly for only a moment before my lips fell again. "My dad… was killed."

He didn't say anything, but instead flat out hugged me. I didn't expect it, but I wasn't about to tell him to get away from me. I didn't even realize that I wanted a hug.

The ice cream was pressed against my belly, making it really cold through the thin cotton of my t-shirt, but I ignored it to the best of my ability and hugged him back.

"I'm sorry, Yukio. I can't imagine." He whispered and pulled away, but left his hands on my shoulders. "I know that you probably don't want to answer this, but… Do you think that killer on the loose got him?"

I shook my head again, this time with more confidence. "Definitely not."

He raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"Because he… he kind of saved my mom from being killed in front of me." I muttered.

His jaw hit the floor. "You met him?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Wow. You've certainly had quite a day. Did you hurt you?"

"Not nearly enough to rise to the expectation I had. He didn't stab me, but he did do one really super awesome, BA knife throw that totally blew my mind, if that counts for anything."

"And… he saved your mom? From who?"

"Some other guy. Probably the guy who… killed my dad." My eyes fell to the floor in between us.

"That's quite contradictory if you ask me." Akira murmured to himself.

"Well, I don't believe anyone asked."

I flinched, looking up at Akira. We blinked at each other a few times before I whispered, "That wasn't my voice."

"Wasn't mine, either." He responded.

"Oh, then I guess it was mine." The voice cheered.

I looked over to see Beyond slouching casually back on the couch, his long arms rested across the back lazily. He watched us with a relaxed gaze, as if he _wasn't_ invading someone else's privacy.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, shooting a glance to my mom's bedroom door. It was still closed. Was she okay in there? I hadn't heard from her in a while.

"That's not the proper way to greet your savior." He teased.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know how you got in here, but I don't think I really want to know, for the sake of sanity. Anyway," I gestured to Beyond. "Meet Beyond Birthday." I said to Akira. "I bet you recognize him from television."

"Uh… nice to meet you?" Akira stuttered.

Beyond smirked. "It's a pleasure, Akira Sato."

Akira stiffened. "How do you know my name?" His eyes were wide with shock, surprise, and fear. I was sure I looked the same.

"Easy," Beyond rolled his head back to stare up at the ceiling. "I have a special pair of eyes that allow me to see both your real name and lifespan."

Both Akira and I lose our jaws. I think they fell to the floor, but we'd never know.

"W-what? How is that even possible?" I blurted.

Beyond chuckled quietly and closed his eyes. "I don't really know, Yuki-chan. It's just what makes me special."

I couldn't help but snort under my breath. "Yeah you're special alright."

"Then you must be horrible at everything you do, because right now, I bet my IQ is higher than both of yours combined." He bragged and slouched himself forwards to plant his elbows on his knees and watch us with amused eyes, that could apparently see our names and lifespans.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're lying?" I challenged.

"Because I don't have any proof except for words. I understand why you won't believe me, so it's probably best if I don't tell you at all."

I exchanged a glance with Akira. Okay, so I thought Beyond was a little weird, just because of his bloodlust and such. But believing he's some kind of genius? He was officially out of his mind, if he wasn't already.

"Let me ask you something." He started again. "Have either of you ever heard of the great _L_?" He purred the famous detective's name.

"Yeah. Why?"

He grinned and lunged off of the couch, only to land inches away from me. "I am just as good as he. I'll even tell you a secret, because I bet nobody will believe you if you say that you've had a conversation with me." He whispered quietly and practically forced me to hold his gaze with how close he was. "I was _raised_ to be just like that arrogant man who hides behind a digital letter. I became a natural clone of him."

I tried to scoot back to give myself a little breathing room, but Beyond had no problem with digging his fingers into my shoulder and holding me there. I winced at the pads of his fingers pressed down on the normally unbothered skin.

"Like I said, you don't believe me. Don't worry, I'm not insulted any."

I licked my lips nervously and took a deep breath, desperate to change the subject and get him at least thirty feet away from me. "Why are you here?"

He frowned for a brief moment. "I'm hungry."

"What?"

"I'm hungry." He repeated and stood up, his hand leaving my shoulder. He walked past me and headed towards the kitchen. "Do you have any jam here? Specifically strawberry flavor?"

"Uh, I don't know." I watched him over my shoulder, my eyebrows nearly fused together.

Akira stood up and offered his hand. I took it and allowed him to hoist me to my feet. Then we quickly followed after Beyond.

We found him digging through the fridge, apparently in a search for strawberry jam, for whatever reason.

"Of all ways you could terrorize my life, you choose to ransack my fridge. Man, you really are the Devil incarnate." I mused, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Mmm." He dug around some more for a little while longer before suddenly whirling around, holding a red jar in his hand. "Found it." He said with a prideful smirk. "Thanks."

"Do you… want some toast or something with that?" I asked uncertainly, making my way towards the toaster with the package of bread beside it.

"No need." He unscrewed the top and dug his fingers into the container before shoving them in his mouth. His eyes closed, and his entire body just kind of melted for a moment as he lost himself in the flavor. Then, a few seconds of awkwardness later, he repeated the process, but this time he wasn't as dramatic.

"Okay then. Spoon?"

"No."

My eyelid twitched subtly as I watched him devour the jam that was probably old as dirt. I wasn't sure if it was just me, but with the old light bulbs in our kitchen, it almost made him look like he was enjoying a jar of blood instead.

"You're just going to eat it plain?"

"Obviously." He muttered and shoved another handful of jam down his throat. "I haven't had this stuff in years."

I nodded slowly and slid my eyes over to stare at Akira, who was just as surprised as I was. I guess he also wasn't comfortable with being in the same room as a strawberry-jam-loving-insane-murderer that may or may not save lives. Personally I wasn't feeling too great about it.

"I think he'd have broadcasted it by now." Beyond mused.

"Who broadcasted what?" I cocked my head curiously.

"Do you have a computer?"

I flinched. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question."

"Uh…" I glanced over my shoulder towards my room. I didn't really want to tell him I had a computer, specifically a laptop that he could easily steal if he put his mind to it.

"Perfect." He strolled past me while sucking on his fingers, and headed up to my room without even asking.

I groaned. "Beyond, I never said you could go into my room!" I whined and jogged up the stairs after him with Akira following.

I burst into my room, only to see him holding my laptop in one arm and typing with the other. His strawberry jam was set on the desk with the top missing.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I cautiously crept behind him to peer around his arm. Akira watched me with raised eyebrows, but didn't move a step.

Beyond was apparently on YouTube, but I couldn't see what he was searching before he pressed enter and went to the next page.

A few more clicks later, he was in full screen mode. The image was blank and white, except for the black fancy letter 'L' in the middle. I glanced up to look at Beyond's expression, and to my surprise he was actually grinning. A grin that nearly paralyzed me on the spot.

"Perfect." He purred and drummed the pads of his fingertips against the laptop while watching the screen. I lifted myself up onto my toes and lifted my chin to see a little better.

The image on the screen did not change when the speaker began.

"It has come to my attention that a new crises has arisen in the past few days." A modified voice came through instead of a pleasant human voice. "As you have heard, a killer has escaped from the asylum he was being held at. Due to the high risk he proposes, I, L, have decided to take up this case before he becomes a bigger problem."

My mouth dropped open. L? Like, _the_ L? I stared at Beyond with wide eyes. Was he really that big of a threat to actually get L's attention? The Kira case was already going on, but now Beyond was just adding fuel to the fire.

L had paused for a brief moment before continuing. "B, if you are watching this, which I am certain that you are somehow, let me assure you that I _will_ find you before you raise havoc. I have already caught you once. Arresting you against will be extremely simple."

"You've already messed with L?" I blurted out. "You must have a death wish or something."

Beyond smirked. "L and I have history together. I'm just playing another game with him."

"A game? A _game_? What sick games did you guys play when you were younger?"

He chuckled and closed the laptop, apparently assuming that L had nothing else to say. Then he carelessly tossed my laptop back onto my bed and snatched his strawberry jam back from my desk to enjoy another handful. "We never played together as children. I was just another one of his successors."

My eyebrows shot towards the sky. "You? I'm sorry, I can't see it."

He smirked. "Did you notice I said _was_?" He looked down to meet my shocked gaze. "It was never my dream to be raised to be an exact clone of that panda."

I frowned. "Panda? Like, the bear thing that eats bamboo?"

He nodded slowly with a deadpanned expression. "Yes, Yuki-chan, that is what a panda _is_."

I flinched at his belittling tone of voice, but brushed it off to the best of my ability. "Isn't L a human, not a bear?"

He sighed and shook his head slowly. "Never mind, you have to know what he looks like and how he acts to understand."

I threw my palms up to my shoulders and twirled away. "Fine, fine. I don't even need to know, anyway."

Akira shot me a curious look as I stopped beside him. He was being awfully silent, and was probably scared out of his wits. The only reason I wasn't cowering was because Beyond didn't seem to have the intention to kill me yet. I was mostly just seeing how casual I could act around him without being in danger.

Beyond shrugged and dragged a finger around the edge of the almost empty jar of jam before swiping his tongue across his skin. I was tempted to try some myself, since he made it look like it was the most delicious substance in the world.

Throwing all caution to the wind, I lunged forwards and snatched the jar from his hand. His lips parted in a protest and he stared at me with a mix of horror and sadness in his wide eyes. I shrugged and dipped the tip of my finger into the cold, sticky substance and handed him the jar yet again. He immediately took the jar back and cradled it against his chest, but watched me as I brought my hand up to my mouth.

I hesitantly sniffed it before sticking my tongue out to barely taste it. It had an extremely strong scent that overwhelmed my senses. It made my eyes water a little bit. My tongue retreated back into my mouth and purposely scared against my teeth to try and wipe the flavor off.

"Is this safe to eat?" I asked while still staring at my finger.

"Of course. If it wasn't, I'd be dead by now."

"Then it's quite a shame it isn't poisonous." I mumbled with a narrowing of my eyes.

He snorted and licked his finger. "Just eat it. It won't kill you." He smirked. "Only I get the privilege to do that."

I frowned. "Are you placing dips on who gets to kill me?"

His smirk dropped and he stared down at his jam, blinking every few seconds. "I guess so." He said with a shrug.

"Oh yay." I groaned.

His lopsided grin returned. "Aren't you honored?"

"Yeah. The feeling is almost comparable to not getting picked last for a team sport." I responded sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes, still grinning. "I get the feeling you're scared of a little bit of jam."

"No, I-" As I opened my mouth to say something else, he reached over and shoved my hand into my mouth, and my finger slipped in between my teeth before I could clench them shut. I didn't have time to curl my tongue away to avoid the sickly sweet jam.

I grimaced and ripped my finger away from my mouth. "God, that tastes _disgusting_! How do you eat that by itself?" I wiped my hand on my shorts.

"To me it's delicious. Come on, it wasn't that bad." He teased. "Don't lie to me. You loved it."

I shook my head. "No, I really didn't."

"H-hey, you guys?" Akira stuttered. "I'm lost."

Beyond and I glanced over with raised eyebrows. "How so?" I asked.

"Well… It's just that you two are…" He flailed a hand in between us. "You're acting like friends, but I thought you two were supposed to be the opposite. No offense, Beyond Birthday."

Beyond reached over and patted my head. "She owes me, and assumes her friendship is enough of a payment."

I scowled and knocked his arm away. "I do _not_ owe you anything. I didn't ask you to help me out. You did me a _favor_. I'll admit it was quite a big favor that I do appreciate, but I never knew you wanted anything in return. And besides, you took my strawberry jam. You have been repaid."

He chuckled and held the opening of the jar at eye level with one lid closed to peer inside. The jar was empty already. Only a little bit of the sticky substance remained around the bottom edge

"Then could you get me some more?" He asked as he reached a hand inside to try and scrape off the rest, but his thumb prevented it.

I pouted. "And just how am I supposed to explain to my mom that I'm going out to get strawberry jam?"

"I don't think she'll ask why at the moment. Better yet, you don't even tell her." He said with a wink.

* * *

**Man this took longer than I had expected to update. I didn't realize how much time homework would take out of my day. And I was a total lazy bum over the weekend, so I didn't get much done then, either. But trust me, I am trying to get this updated as quickly as possible. **

**I did another Beyond POV because... well... why not? ;)**

**I only have a vague idea of where this story is going, and I have no clue how it's going to get there, so bear with me if the story seems to go too fast and lacks description. Or vise-versa; I use too much detail to stall and make it seem longer. I know both of them can be a little annoying.**

**Wanna review? I don't bite, so feel free :3 I'd love you to follow and/or favorite this, too. It means a lot to me to know people are reading and enjoying what I write. And good critique would be awesome to improve my writing. **

**While writing this, I do listen to music, but I didn't have one song in specific, so I just listened to a bunch of songs from Simon Curtis. I don't know why, since the songs have nothing to do with what I'm writing.**

**~BurntPickle**


	4. Gotta Love Those Cupcakes and Knives

**No surprise here, I still don't own Death Note.**

* * *

I groaned as Beyond eagerly shoved jar after jar of his beloved strawberry jam into the shopping basket. The weight pressed into my arm, making my shoulder sag further and further down.

"How much do you need?!" I snapped after the eight jar was tossed in.

He turned his chin to his shoulder to smirk at me under a cocky gaze. "Trust me, I'll go through all of these within a week."

I rolled my eyes. "I only brought enough money to buy, like, two jars and that's it."

"That's fine." He held up three crisp twenty dollar bills in between his fingers.

My brows furrowed. "Where'd you get that?"

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at some man at the other side of the aisle. "He passed by us a few moments ago."

"Beyond!" I screeched. "That doesn't belong to you!"

He deadpanned. "Is this really the worst thing I've ever done?"

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. He had a point. "That still doesn't make it okay."

He shrugged carelessly and pulled the basket away from my throbbing arm. The blood immediately started flowing again. "That's fine, I wasn't looking for your approval anyway." He turned and started strolling down the aisle and then turned down to the next one. I reluctantly trudged after him. It didn't take me long to realize he had a slight skip to his step.

"Geez, he's just like a kid in a toy store…" I grumbled under my breath. "Where's Akira, anyway?" I looked around with a frown. He had been with me just three minutes ago. "Akira?" I called. "Where'd you go?"

"Is Akira your son?" A lady with a hunched back asked me. "I think I saw a young boy running around a few minutes ago." Her wrinkled hands shook with old age, and her creased eyes had to look up to me.

My cheeks warmed almost immediately. "No, he's my friend. What makes you think that he was my child?"

Her head swiveled over to stare at Beyond. "You two look like a couple." She whispered without looking at me.

My jaw dropped, and my face felt even hotter under my skin. "What?! U-uh, no, we're just… acquaintances." I stuttered with a tongue that refused to work. "We only met yesterday, there's no way that I'd ever consider the idea." The worlds flew from my mouth as fast as I could get them out, desperate to make sure she knew the truth.

And did I seriously look like a mom? Oh _hell _no.

She chuckled. "You say that now, girl, but…" Her voice trailed off.

"But what?" My eyebrows shot up, frantic.

She just shook her head and scurried off without another word. But I could see her lips pulled into a warm smile. I glared a dagger into her back as she went away, but then switched my gaze to glower over at Beyond, who was reaching up for something on the top shelf.

He apparently noticed my glare, and flicked his dark eyes to meet mine just as his hand grasped a box. He pulled it down and came over.

"I have an idea." He cheered.

I frowned. "Why do I have the feeling it will either demoralize me or piss me off?"

He winced. "Jeez, that was quite the mood swing."

I rolled my eyes. "Get over it. Have you seen Akira?"

"Nope."

"Thanks for the help…" I grumbled and turned on a heel to stalk away.

"What's got you in a bad mood all of the sudden?" He asked, probably following after me, but I didn't look back.

"The fact that you exist." I snapped.

He whistled lowly. "Man, that was harsh."

"Too bad I'm not sorry."

Suddenly I spotted Akira talking to some random guy. The guy was taller than he was, and looked to be around eighteen years old. He had long, straight brown hair that swooped to his light brown eyes. He had on nice clothes with a tie, but seemed friendly enough, and not like some stuck up, snotty smart guy. Maybe he even went to one of those smart-people schools that I'd never get into, because to tell the truth, I was a lazy idiot.

"Akira!" I barked.

Both guys perked and glanced over. Akira grinned.

"Oh, hey there Yukio! Look who I met!"

I walked over. "Is he some famous guy?" I looked him up and down briefly, as to size him up. "Because I've never heard of him."

Akira's new buddy chuckled. "No, no, I'm nowhere near famous. The name's Light." He extended a hand politely. "Nice to meet you, Yukio."

I cautiously slid my hand into his and shook it slowly. "Light, huh? That's cool." I turned my attention back to Akira. "So you've been talking with this guy for the past couple of minutes? I thought you got lost in the grocery store or something."

Akira snorted. "No way! You know my sense of direction is incredible. But you should totally listen to this guy talk! He's a freaking genius!"

"Is that so?" I raised an eyebrow towards Light.

The teenager raised and arm and scratched at the back of his head, his cheeks colored. "I wouldn't say that I'm a _genius_."

"Oh please, anyone could just look at you and know that you have a high IQ." Akira had that envious look in his eyes. "You just have that kind of face."

Light smiled awkwardly, clearly trying to be humble. "Uh, thank you?"

Akira nodded with a giddy grin on his face. I also noticed something about him. His cheeks were a pinkish color.

Then it clicked.

_Akira had a crush on Light!_

I almost squealed at the realization, but managed to hold it in to keep from embarrassing my friend in front of his new dream-lover.

Then something else hit me. Beyond was being awfully silent. I glanced over my shoulder at him. He might have looked relaxed to a total stranger, and I was surprised no one had called the cops on him yet, since he kind of was wanted. But I knew that something was churning in that psychotic mind of his. His eyes had that hard, concentrated look.

* * *

** Beyond's POV**

* * *

Everyone else had a lifespan. It would hover over everyone's heads, counting down. He always knew if someone was to die soon. Sometimes he had seen numbers that were extremely low, but he could never say a word about it. It would raise too many suspicions.

But it wasn't like he didn't deserve to say anything at the moment. Everyone around him had their eyes glued onto him. They knew who he was thanks to their televisions or internet access, but none of them knew what to do. They could tell that the girl was with him, but had yet to alert someone about his presence. It was a surprise they had even let him in. They treated him like an unpredictable wild animal that could strike out at any moment. He might have if he wasn't out looking for jam.

Beyond gave a mental sigh. He was getting off track. His main focus was on this Light Yagami guy. Unlike everyone else, he did not have a lifespan that he could see. The best conclusion was that he was under the same roof as Kira. It was fairly easy to figure out, even though he didn't know much about Shinigami themselves. Normal humans and Shinigami did not ever show lifespans, but everyone else did. Which meant that this Light Yagami was not a normal human anymore, and had probably come in contact with some supernatural power of a Shinigami. He didn't, however, know what that power was.

The Yagami guy was also continuously flitting his gaze to Beyond. Kira had probably recognized the killer the minute he saw him, but had the skills to keep a casual appearance. As the one and only Kira, he was probably itching to figure out Beyond's name and kill him as soon as possible, due to Beyond's not-so-great reputation. Beyond could also promise that Kira probably thought he was doing the world a favor by getting rid of him. Too bad that wasn't happening. If Yagami had made the eye deal, which was most unlikely, then Beyond would be dead soon. But he had some serious doubts that that would even happen.

The other two seemed oblivious to Light being Kira, but that was what he had expected. Beyond was tempted to blurt it out right there, but something about Akira's gaze made him wonder if it was the right choice. Beyond may have been cruel, but breaking the kid's spirit wasn't his intention. He'd save that for later.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

Beyond couldn't even wait until we got home to dive into another jar of jam. He had unscrewed the top and thrown the lid off to an unknown place, never to be found. Apparently he had a goal of finishing it all off before we got home. I didn't doubt that he's accomplish it at the pace he was doing.

As we walked home we received many strange stares. Most of the people were focused on Beyond, either because he was making a mess of himself with jam, or because they recognized him from the news. And there was me, who didn't seem to be freaking out because I was near the psychopathic killer, but instead probably looked extremely pissed off. Lastly there was the gleeful Akira, who was living a happy moment because he managed to get Light's number somehow.

I didn't blame them for staring. We were an odd bunch.

Somehow I ended up carrying the bag instead of Beyond, since he was in the middle of _his_ happy, jam covered moment. I really didn't understand that guy. It was like his entire life revolved around either jam or killing people. I mean, everyone can have their little fetishes, but _seriously_?_ Jam_?

"Ever tried that on toast?" I asked, nodding to Beyond's hand.

He smirked. "There's no need. It's like chocolate milk. Milk and chocolate taste fine mixed together, but they're just as good separate."

"Do you just eat that on a regular daily basis?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Where do you get your nutrients from, then?"

He chuckled. "Is Yuki-chan worried about my health?" He teased.

"No, absolutely not!" I snapped as my cheeks warmed, remembering back to what the old woman had said. "I'm just curious as to how you're not some walking skeleton at the moment."

He was still laughing to himself. "You're blushing." He pointed out, basically ignoring the other part of my comeback.

I rolled my eyes. "Please, you just _want_ me to worry about your health."

He snorted. "What makes you think that?"

I narrowed my eyes, but was at loss for a proper retort. He and I were both alike when it came to the desire to have the last word in an argument. It killed me to know that anything else I said to him wouldn't bother him at all. I needed to find his weak point, and then I'd have to destroy him with it.

I almost laughed at the thought of my battle plan. I found it funny that I was trying to map out a strategy for his downfall just because he could outwit me.

Instead of trying to figure out a good comeback like a total idiot, I turned my head to look back at Akira, who was prancing along with a failed attempt at hiding a goofy grin plastered on his face. I smiled a little bit, glad that he was so happy. It was amazing to see him so excited about something, but the fact that there was no way of knowing if Light was also gay made my heart hurt for poor, innocent Akira. There weren't many guys at our school that were interested in other guys, which left him with a small amount of choices.

"Whaa!" Someone shrieked. Our little trio came to a stop, everyone breaking out of their trances, to find the source out of pure curiosity. I don't think I was the only one who wasn't surprised when it was just some woman clutching her child as she gaped at Beyond.

Beyond smirked and held out his jar of jam to me. I frowned down at it. "What do you want me to-?" I fell silent when he shoved it into my hands and reached under the hem of his shirt to slowly draw a knife out. Sunlight glinted off of the sharpened, polished blade as he held it out towards her.

I gasped and immediately reached over to snatch the knife from his grasp. "No!" I held it out behind me and used my body as a barrier in between him and the weapon.

He pouted. "But-"

"_No._" I repeated sternly, as if I was talking to a puppy who just peed on the carpet. "There is no reason for you to scare everyone like that. Especially since I don't want to get in trouble for not reporting you immediately." I hissed out the last sentence with quiet words.

"By the way, why _didn't _you report me already?"

I shrugged. "You kind of saved my mom. I guess I can reward you with a day or two of freedom… and apparently jam, too." I forced the jar back into one of his hands but kept a hold of the knife. "Now stop being a creep in public and let's go before someone calls the cops." And with that, I wrapped my hand tightly around his wrist and dragged him forwards, hoping that Akira was following. I would've grabbed Akira, also, but I knew he could get his way back to his house without killing someone. Beyond, on the other hand, required some kind of supervision, or else he might cause a disaster.

Beyond's skin was strangely cold for whatever reason. And his skin was dry and tight around his wrist. When you think about it, it isn't hard to notice that Beyond didn't have much muscle at all on his body, but didn't appear to have much fat either.

_Probably because all he eats is jam._ I thought snidely.

"Where are we going?" He asked and jogged along beside me to match my pace. Too bad he appeared to be having an easy run while I was struggling to keep up with my own pace.

"Back home, idiot." I snarled as I ran. The jars of jam jingled together behind me inside their bag, and the knife was held as tightly as I could. I wanted to throw it somewhere, but then it might hit someone and stab them through the eye. And that wouldn't be good.

I was a little confused as to why he didn't put up any kind of fight. I took away his knife, but he only attempted to complain once, which I had silenced immediately. And he wasn't arguing or trying to break free from my white-knuckled grasp, but instead seemed to be totally cool with it. Yet I could swear he lived to contradict me.

There was no point in wondering. The guy was impossible to understand, anyway. He would only make me lose my mind trying to figure him out.

* * *

I woke up the next morning on the floor beside me bed. My mouth tasted gross, a lot like what I would call death, and my hair was matted all over my head.

My body was stiff, so it was hard to push myself up into a sitting position and brush the majority of my hair back onto my actual head and not all over my face, but with some effort, it eventually happened.

Why was I on the floor?

I remembered that Beyond and I had come home, but Akira had decided to leave, probably to do some 'research' on his little crush. By 'research', I meant stalking via Facebook. It was late, so I told Beyond to get lost. There was no way I was sleeping under the same roof as him. I'm pretty sure he did leave, but left his jam in the fridge, which meant he was coming back to get it sometime.

I yawned and scrubbed my face with a hand. Why _was_ I on the floor? Looking up to my bed, I saw the covers were thrown around and heaped all over the mattress, like I had tossed and turned but eventually given up and threw them off of me.

Oh yeah… that's right…

The memory of why I got up hit me. I had a nightmare about my father's death. It was my imagination's idea of how my father died. It wasn't pretty, and judging by how damp my cheeks were still, I had definitely been crying. My fingers hurt, too. Glancing down, I saw that what used to be fingertips was now a war zone. The opponents? The skin versus my teeth, apparently. My nails were nipped at and jagged, but the skin around them was terribly torn.

I shook a little bit of life back into my hands before gripping the side of the bed to hoist myself. With one little glance in the mirror, all I saw was streaked makeup and puffy eyes. I looked like I just walked out of the grave, to tell the truth.

I quickly escaped to the bathroom to clean myself up a little bit. I took a quick shower and got dressed in light grey sweatpants and a black tank top. I even did the world a favor and threw my hair up into a messy bun. If anybody peeked through the window, at least they wouldn't scar their eyes. Of course, if there was anyone peeking through the window, then I'd have a serious problem that would probably need the police, but that's not the point.

I dragged mysekf out of the bathroom. My hair was still dripping wet, but I really didn't care. I was hungry, anyway.

I strolled into the kitchen and opened the fridge to snatch out the milk jug, and then went to the pantry to grab out the cereal.

"My, you look sexy." I familiar voice said jokingly.

I nodded to Beyond. "I know, I'm planning on making this my new look. I just know it'll catch on." I say casually as I pour milk into a bowl. But just before I sprinkled my cereal into the bowl (which was not Cheerios, by the way. I was still mad about that), I slowly turned to actually face Beyond.

He stood with his back turned to me. He was mixing something in a large bowl that was hidden behind him, but the box was out to the side.

_Cupcakes. Beyond is making cupcakes_. My jaw fell open, and lingered there for quite a while. That must've been the box he had grabbed yesterday, and I totally forgot about it. But… _why_?

"What are you doing?" I asked, setting the open box of cereal down to walk over. I peered around his shoulder to stare at the batter.

"Nothing much." He lifted a shoulder.

"Okay, let me rephrase that." I scowled down at the batter. "Why are you in my house, making cupcakes?"

"Well, for one, you have really cruddy locks on your door, so it's no trouble breaking in. Also, it's raining." He pointed out the window. Sure enough, it was pouring rain. I hadn't even noticed. "And I was hungry and needed my jam."

"But what does this have to do with the _cupcakes_?"

He chuckled. "Does that really matter?"

"Kind of. I mean, nobody just breaks into a house to make cupcakes. But," I leaned forwards and dragged my finger through the batter to taste. It was sweet, but actually tasted good. "As long as no one gets hurt, I think I'll be okay with it for now. Just no burning the house down or anything."

"Hey," He pulled the whisk from the bowl and flung a little bit of the batter at me. It landed on my cheek. "No eating the batter." He scolded.

I frowned. "Why not?"

He dragged his finger along the edge of the whisk before slipping it into his mouth. "Because I said so, that's why." He said, his finger still in his mouth.

I used the side of my thumb to wipe the batter off of my cheek, and immediately licked it off. "I have to admit, it does taste good. Who knew you could bake?"

He shrugged. "I certainly didn't. I'm sure I'll screw something up soon."

"Yukio? Beyond?"

A froze at the sound of my mother's voice. Slowly, both the cupcake-making-killer and I turned to see my mother, dressed in a purple silk nightgown, standing in the entrance of the kitchen with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Ah, Miss Keiko, good morning!" Beyond chimed. "Did you sleep well?"

I used my elbow to jab him in the ribs. I heard his breath puff from his mouth, but he didn't punch me back like I had expected. Huh, maybe he did have a few manners. What a surprise.

She nodded slowly. "Uh, yes. Thank you, Beyond." She looked nervous as she met my gaze. "Yukio, can I talk to you? In private?"

I nodded and followed her out of the kitchen and into the living room. I was afraid to leave Beyond in the kitchen with a bunch of knives, but I was almost convinced that he didn't have the urge to kill me yet. I mean, he was given plenty of opportunities. Surely he would've taken one of them by now if he really wanted me dead.

"What is he doing here?" She asked in a whisper. Her eyes were red, too, but unlike me, she had bags under her eyes. No doubt she had slept much last night, but instead probably spent the late hours sobbing into her pillow. Guilt stabbed me in the gut. I should've comforted her, but I didn't even think to do that.

I shook my head and shrugged. "I don't know." I muttered back. "When I woke up, he was just sort of… there."

"I don't want to be rude and kick him out, but… I wasn't expecting company."

"I know Mom. Just give me a little bit of time, and I can probably convince him to leave, okay?"

She nodded. "Fine. But be careful, alright? You don't know what he's thinking."

I nodded back to her. "Got it."

I went back into the kitchen as calmly as possible. Without a word, I went over and poured the cereal in the bowl, finally, and put the milk and the box away.

"It's not nice to talk to people behind their backs, you know." Beyond taunted, glancing over his shoulder. "Especially when they're in the next room."

"What makes you think I was talking about you?" I asked as I grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer.

"I never said your topic was _me_. Looks like you just slipped up." He smirked under his cool gaze.

I pursed my lips and shoved a mouthful of cereal into my mouth. "Shut up." I mumbled with pieces of cereal tumbling out of my mouth and onto the floor below.

I couldn't believe my eyes when a sympathetic smile crossed his face. "You're a disaster. Did you know that?" He motioned with a hand to the mess I was making on the floor.

I was actually frozen in shock from his expression, and his tone of voice. He was being… friendly. I couldn't put the pieces together. How was I supposed to actually believe that a psychopathic killer was baking cupcakes and being nice in my kitchen?

Alright, what did he want?

I nodded. "Yeah, I learned that a long time ago."

He smirked and chuckled. His shoulders trembled with laughter, and he crossed the kitchen to the oven. When he pulled it open, a wave of immense heat swallowed my entire body at once. He slid the tray of batter in and immediately closed it before messing with the buttons to set the timer. If he hadn't been locked away in the asylum for quite some time, I might have thought he cooked in his free time.

He shoved everything but the bowl into the sink. That, he handed to me with a cocky smirk. "_Now_ you can lick the bowl."

I stared down at the almost empty bowl of batter. There was still more than enough batter left to make me sick.

"Why?" I asked, looking back up at him.

He shrugged and started walking out of the kitchen. "Since you're cleaning up, I thought it would be nice to let you have a little taste."

My jaw dropped open, ready to shout at him, but the words didn't make it. I only ran my finger around the bowl and ate the batter.

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

He found Yuki-chan's mother sitting on the couch, reading a magazine of some sort. He didn't care to try and learn the name of it, but instead flopped down in a recliner that groaned under his weight. It was then that her mother looked up with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, Beyond." She smiled, but he knew it wasn't genuine. He understood that she wasn't comfortable with his presence, but that didn't bother him much. He had never been one to care what others thought of him. If he had, would he have ever murdered those people? "How are you doing?"

He lifted a shoulder. "Fine." He answered in a blank tone.

"…Are you hungry?" She flipped a page of her magazine and scanned the new one with her eyes quickly before looking back at him.

"No ma'am." He replied politely, which was odd. Why wasn't he being a total jerk towards Yuki-chan's mother? It's not like he had any respect for her. The woman had yet to prove to him that she actually deserved his respect. Same went for Yuki-chan, but that didn't matter.

She sighed and folded her magazine shut and set it aside before leaning forwards to plant her elbows on her knees. "I don't mean to be rude, Beyond, but I'd like to know what you have planned for the future." She asked quietly. Yuki-chan had no chance of hearing over the water that was running, both outside and in the sink as she cleaned up. Why did she do that, anyway? It wasn't like her. Maybe she was out of it either today or yesterday.

He raised an eyebrow, but it was hidden by his mop of hair. "Future?"

"Yes." She sighed. "I'd like to know if you plan to go back to your old… habits. Because if you do, then I don't want you to be near what is left of my family." She said sternly, eyeing him with the glare of a protective mother. He knew that she was going to be quite protective of her daughter for a long time, or at least until her heart was mended. However, he was impressed at her bravery. She knew who he was, yet was glowering at him only to defend her daughter, who he had yet to decide if he wanted dead or not.

He smirked. "Miss Keiko, I really don't know what I plan to do now." He answered truthfully and stole a quick glance at her lifespan. Unlike her daughter's, she had an entire decade left. Once Yuki-chan dies the poor woman will have to live the rest of her life in pain and sorrow. He was actually surprised that her lifespan wasn't shorter, since it was likely she'd commit suicide once she has lost it all. Maybe she was a stronger woman than he thought she was.

She narrowed her eyes. "If you even try to pull a knife on my daughter, I will not hesitate to shoot you. I do have a loaded gun stored in this house, and there isn't a bone in my body that won't gladly pull the trigger on you."

_Funny, that sounded like something Yuki-chan would say. _He thought to himself, struggling not to snicker out loud.

"Well, if it makes you feel any more at ease, I don't have the desire to end the life of your daughter." He kept his voice cool as he leaned his back into the chair, his head rested against the top as he held the woman's intimidating gaze. He knew that glancing away from her was a sign of submission, and he wasn't one to take any kind of submissive actions.

Her lips were drawn into a thin line. With her heavy, red eyes and tear-streaked face, she looked ready to pass out from exhaustion. "I really hope it stays that way, Beyond Birthday. Not only for my daughter's sake, but for yours too."

* * *

**Since I had a day with no homework, I was able to get this chapter up a lot faster than normal. Don't expect it often, but if you're lucky I'll have another one this weekend because I have Monday off. That is, if I don't write a chapter for my other story, which is now next in line for an update.**

**The amount of feedback I'm getting on this is _amazing_. I post it one day, go to school, and come back to, like, five new reviews and a bunch of new followers/favorites! You guys seriously make me love writing this, knowing that there are people who enjoy reading it! You should see how much I blush to myself when I read your super-awesome-cool reviews. Three chapters, sixteen reviews? Not bad! **

**So, what did you think of this chapter? I know, it's a little uneventful, but I put in some subtle Yukio x BB in there to try make up for it. Hopefully the next chapter will be a little better. **

**Also, what is your opinion on Akira x Light? I thought of it as I was writing and decided to throw it in. Not sure if I'll actually make a relationship or not. It wouldn't be M rated, sorry, but I can't possibly have that stuff saved on my computer for someone to ready. XD**

**Critique is welcome and encouraged! If you notice a mistake, don't hesitate to point it out to me :3**

**~BurntPickle**


	5. Genuis Detectives and Their Clever Ways

**Still do not own Death Note :/**

* * *

I used a sponge to scrub off whatever Beyond had used to make his cupcakes. The hot water poured from the drain and washed over the glass bowl, filling it up gradually. Why was_ I_ doing the cleanup? It's not like I wanted him to make cupcakes in the first place. They were cooking in the oven still, and had a good ten minutes left. They smelt good already, though.

I glanced at the clock. Thirty minutes until school.

…

Oh crap. Yesterday wasn't Friday.

I slammed the water off and raced towards my room immediately at the realization. My hands were still soaked, but I couldn't care less.

I did it again. What was with me lately? I usually wasn't_ this_ irresponsible.

I could've just gone to school in my sweats and comfy shirt, but by the time the thought hit me, I was already shirtless and ready to put on a fresh shirt, so it was a little too late.

I put on what I did, I think it was a black tank top and purple shorts, but I could've been mistaken. Really it was just a blind race to get ready.

I cursed myself quietly as I flew to the bathroom. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._ I repeated yesterday's process of rushing to get everything ready. I left my hair in the messy bun that I had threw it up in earlier, and my makeup was pretty lousy. I wasn't happy about my appearance, but since I wasn't planning to try and impress anybody today, I'd be fine. And besides, if anyone asked why I looked like crap, I'd have my father as an excuse.

My chest squeezed at the thought of my father, and my eyes stung.

I slammed my eyelids closed to block any tears that wanted to escape. No, I wouldn't cry again. Maybe at his funeral I'd cry, whenever the heck that was, but not yet. I didn't want everyone to gather around me and ask me what's wrong. I hated that kind of attention. It made me feel too pressured to respond, and I never liked feeling pressured.

I breathed out a breath through a tiny hole I made in my pursed lips. It helped calm me down just a little bit, and I felt my body start to relax just a tad. When I opened my eyes again, I looked into the mirror at the girl whose life was moving way too fast.

At least I still had my mom. She was okay, and we'd be fine. Dad was probably smiling down at us. Or maybe not, since there _was_ Beyond, but I was still trying to decide what I thought about him. Was I scared of him? Not really. If he was trying to play innocent and convince me he was good when he really wasn't, then he was doing a great job of it. He saved my mother's life and made us cupcakes. But then again, he also made me spill an entire box of Cheerios, threatened to kill me, and pickpocketed a stranger so he could buy some jam. I wouldn't call him innocent, but I couldn't say he was completely immoral.

I groaned and shook my head in frustration. How was I supposed to deal with such a psycho? He was too unpredictable to trust completely. And I had to leave him with my mom for eight hours. Did I really want to take the risk?

A gentle knocking at the door startled me out of my thoughts. "Honey, what are you doing in there?" My mom asked.

"Getting ready for school." I answered and slid a bobby pin into my hair to hold back a few loose strands of hair.

The door opened and she peered inside with a frown. "You're really going to school today?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"But Yukio, after all that's happened…" She sighed.

"I need to get my mind off of it." I said in a firm tone. I glanced past her to look for Beyond, but couldn't see him at the angle I was at.

She nodded slowly. "I understand, but baby you deserve a day to mourn."

I stepped forwards and let my palm fall onto her shoulder. "Mom, I can't just sit here all day and wallow in sadness. At least at school my mind will be occupied."

Her lips were still curved into an unhappy frown, but she stepped out of the way and left the door open. "Fine. But maybe I'll come and get you so we can go out for lunch."

I grinned and nodded. "Sounds great. We'll just get something here in town, since the car is kind of gone."

She laughed and smiled halfheartedly. I loved my mother's laugh. It was always so light, even when she felt so down. Like bells, and right now they were just out in the rain and needed a little drying out. "Yes. I'll call the police and have them return it as soon as possible."

"Good."

She turned her head over her shoulder and looked outside. "You do know that it's still raining, right?"

I had actually forgotten about that in my rush.

"I'll just take an umbrella."

* * *

"Yukio!" Akira cried and threw his arms around me as soon as I got to school. Like, literally, I walked through the door and was nearly tackled to the ground. My nose was smashed into his chest and I nearly peed myself in surprise, but once I calmed my heart rate down a little bit, I hugged him back after dropping the soaked umbrella that I hadn't even closed yet. "Thank God you're okay. I was worried sick."

"You sound like my mom." I complained and looked up at him, but with a smile. I was a little wet from the rain, but the downpour had lightened into more of a light sprinkling, so I wasn't totally soaked. "I guess I should thank you for caring."

He grinned and released me from the suffocating embrace. His eyes had a shadow underneath them. Did he not even sleep? He could've just called me and I probably would've answered. "Anytime." He crouched and picked up the umbrella. He shook it off, spraying tiny droplets all over the ground, and then shut it before handing it back to me.

"So, tell me, what happened after I left?" He started asking as we began walking towards me locker. I had ran to school, so I was a little out of breath, but at least I still had some time to chat.

"Well, clearly he did not kill me. But, to answer your question, I sent him away and went to sleep."

"Sounds ordinary enough. Did he actually leave?"

"Temporarily. He's like that headache that just won't go away. You take a pill and it goes away for the time being, but the next thing you know, its back in your kitchen making freaking cupcakes!" My voice raised in both volume and pitch as I went through the sentence.

Akira raised a curious eyebrow. "What?"

"I woke up this morning to a killer making cupcakes." I explained. "Apparently he broke into my house once again since it was raining. And he left his jam in my fridge, too. I knew he was going to come back eventually to pick it up, but I had no idea that he planned on staying."

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Geez. Are you sure he's the same guy from the news?"

I shook my head and shrugged. "To tell the truth, I have no idea."

We reached my locker together in a minute or so. There weren't many students that were still wandering the hallways, which meant I didn't have much time. I turned the knob to twist my combo in and then swung the door open to snatch a textbook from the bottom of my locker.

"Were the cupcakes good, at least?"

I shrugged. "I didn't get to taste the final result. The batter tasted great, but I forgot we had school today, so I left in a rush."

"Ah."

We started towards class, but had to leave to go to different rooms. We waved our goodbyes and then headed off in our separate directions.

I walked into class just on time, and just like last time, they were watching the news on the projected screen on the white board.

"There have been multiple reports of the killer being near Tokyo, but police have been unable to locate him. Many times there have been mentions of a teenage girl being with the killer, but did not appear to be threatened, but instead was described to be hanging out casually as if nothing was wrong." A woman explained on the screen. "This is the only picture we have of them. If you see either of these two, please call and state their location immediately."

A picture of Beyond and I at the market was pulled up onto the screen. It was blurry thanks to the low definition cameras at the store, but someone could still tell that it was my hair style, and the color of the clothes were the same.

I received a few curious stares and/or frowns from around the room. Not everyone seemed to recognize me, but some people might have made the connection.

I tried to look as emotionless as possible, but it was obvious that my hands were shaking, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot. Since I hadn't reported Beyond that made it look like I was actually trying to help him escape. If they only knew that really I was just putting up with him and grateful that I wasn't dead.

"Yukio," The boy behind me whispered. "That's not you, is it?"

I turned around and shook my head as convincingly as possible. "No way."

He grinned, looking relieved. "Good. I didn't-"

"Yukio Chi, is it?" A mature voice caused me to whirl around at the sound of my name. At the door stood an elderly man with a sagging yet warm face. The white hair that remained on his head was slicked back against his scalp, and a straight mustache went from underneath his long nose to right above his upper lip. His crinkled eyes were squinted under his heavy eyelids, and were protected behind clear, fragile glasses. He wore a nice black tux, which meant he had some kind of money if he wore that on a regular basis. His pale, nearly colorless lips were curved in a pleasant smile as he faced towards me.

I blinked, my mouth parted open in surprise. Who was he? I'd never seen him in my entire life.

"Y-yeah?" I stuttered nervously.

"May I speak with you for a moment?" He asked.

I pressed my lips together and nodded stiffly. Then, hesitantly, I stood up and weaved my way through the desks towards the door. He held it open for me with an arm as I slipped through the opening, my head low.

The old man shut the door behind me. He didn't stop smiling, but I was starting to feel frightened, no matter how nice he looked.

"Who are you?" I blurted out and backed a step or two away from him. I needed space in between us, in case he decided to pull a gun on me or something.

He chuckled. "There is no need to be scared. My name is Watari." He extended a hand to me. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Chi."

I licked my lips nervously before sliding my hand into his. The skin on his palm was loose and his grip wasn't tight as we shook hands. He was very polite and formal, but I still wasn't willing to trust him.

I nodded in response, not really sure how to speak properly. He was obviously here with the topic of Beyond in mind. It's not like he would come here for any other reason.

_Deny everything, Yukio_. I told myself in my mind. _Don't give out information to strangers._

"Miss Chi, I'm sure you've heard of the great detective L, correct?"

I blinked. "Huh?" I paused for a moment, surprised that L would be mentioned. "Oh, uh, yeah. He's working on the Kira case. I think."

"Yes. I work for him."

My jaw hit the floor. This man – Watari – worked for _L_? Like, _the_ L?

"Is that true?" I questioned.

He nodded. "Yes, and I know you probably do not want to answer this question, but have you met a man named Beyond Birthday lately?"

_Deny everything, Yukio_. I repeated mentally.

"Beyond _who_? What kind of name is that?"

His smile faltered a little bit, but it recovered quickly. Had he been able to tell I was lying? It probably would've been better for me in the long run if I just told Watari the truth, but it felt wrong to sell Beyond out like that. I mean, he _did_ make cupcakes. Not that that made me like his presence or anything. It's just… GAH, I was so confused. Did I like Beyond being around me? No. But did I want him to be sentenced back to the asylum, or perhaps given the death penalty just because he broke out? No, not really. From what I'd seen, he had some kind of a conscience. Or at least morals.

"I see. Miss Chi, do you happen to have any twins, siblings, or cousins that look similar to you?"

I shook my head. "No twins, no siblings, and I have one cousin but she's all the way in America for some Foreign Exchange Program thingy. Come to think of it, I haven't talked to her in a while. Maybe I should call or Skype her when I get home."

Watari ignored my musings and continued on. "That's very odd. Because L has found multiple pictures of different qualities, and all of which look exactly like you."

_Crap, crap, crap! Think, Yukio! Come up with some kind of lie!_

"Miss Chi, I would hate to find out that you've lied to me."

I smiled politely. "No sir, I assure you that I don't hang out with criminals on the loose."

He bowed his head. "Well then, thank you for your time, Miss Chi. Please, do get back to class."

He didn't have to tell me twice. I turned on a heel and did my best to not dash inside.

* * *

"Hi Mom!" I pranced into the office two minutes after I was called down. My mother was dressed up in a long brown skirt and a white blouse, and she had even done her makeup nicely. Compared to her I looked like crap, but whatever.

"Ready to go?" She asked and smiled.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Wonderful. Where shall we go?" She led me out the door and away from the school.

"I don't know. You're all dressed up, so it feels wrong to just go and have fast food."

"Well then, why don't we go somewhere else?" She offered.

"Mom, the car is-" I cut myself off as soon as my eyes laid on the shiny black 2007 Honda Civic parked in front of the building. That was our car, the one that Mom had left behind in her frantic escape. "Right there. The car is right there." I finished. "Okay then. I guess we _can_ go anywhere."

"The police department dropped it off just a few hours ago after they found it. I didn't even have to call them!" My mom cheered as we hurried towards the car. I knew she was trying to sound happy, but there was a certain depressed tone in her voice that probably only I could hear, since I lived with her and all.

"Oh, cool."

"So, where do you want to go?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Anywhere, I guess." We stopped in front of the car. I reached for the door handle and grasped it, but didn't open it just yet. "By the way, what'd you do with Beyond? Did he leave or something?"

"No, honey, he's coming with us." She beamed.

My jaw dropped open. "Huh? You mean you're bringing the psycho along? Are you nuts?"

"Don't be silly, he's very kind. We've been hanging out all day." She insisted as she opened the door to the driver's seat to swing herself inside.

I grumbled and did the same, except in the back right seat. I shut the door beside me and immediately slid a glare over to Beyond, who sat in the seat next to me. If I didn't know better, I might've said he looked innocent. That is, until our eyes met and his devious smirk crept onto his face.

"It's good to see you too, _Yuki-chan_."

I scowled at him. "Do you plan on making yourself at home in my house or something?"

He paused thoughtfully for a moment before lifting a shoulder. "Maybe. It's not like I have anything better to do."

I rolled my eyes and leaned my forehead against the cold glass of the car window to ease the new pounding in my temple. I really didn't want to be around him right now, considering that Watari guy, and apparently L, too, were already suspicious of me. I hadn't woken up yesterday with plans to aid a criminal, but somehow in the past forty-eight hours my life plans were basically burned in the fireplace and rewritten without my consent.

The car began moving forwards to pull out of the parking lot. I _was_ hungry, but I wasn't sure if I was okay with going out in public, where L could probably notice me and know that I had lied. I really didn't want to find out what kind of punishment I could get for lying.

"Yukio, are you feeling alright? You look pale." My mother peered at me through the rearview mirror of the windshield. Her voice was laced with concern, but I could still hear the sadness and pain in her tone. And her eyes showed for it, too.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all." I assured her with the most convincing voice I could manage. I even smiled a little bit to her to prove it.

Apparently that had been fine enough for her when she nodded with a warm smile in her eyes and went back to watching the rode. I almost wanted to revive the conversation with a "No Mom, I'm not alright," but I couldn't get the guts up to do it. I didn't want people to know that I was upset because that could lead to a lot of unwanted attention. Plus, if I didn't use the right words, someone could overreact and the situation would only get worse.

So the easiest thing to do was to just keep my mouth shut and not complain about a semi-beautiful life.

Though I did feel like crying at the moment. Not only because I was now in a moving vehicle with a psycho, but also because I now was aware of the eyes that were going to be tracking everything I did. And being in public with Beyond was not going to helpful in my situation.

I took a brief moment to flit my eyes over to Beyond, who was sitting there quietly, gazing out of the window. The sunlight that came through the glass was highlighting certain parts of his face, such as his cheekbones and pale lips. He looked bored, but also curious at the same time, which I couldn't quite manage to figure out. Before he could actually notice I had my eyes focused on him, however, I went back to staring out of my window.

The silence was drawn out until it became unbearable. Mom drove. Beyond stayed quiet (for once). I sat there awkwardly with a mind reeling with thoughts. It was just too quiet. Even the radio was off.

"What have you guys been doing all day?" I blurted out, desperate to get a conversation going.

Beyond tore his eyes away from the window to send me a sideways glance. "Nothing much, to tell the truth." He replied with a blank expression.

My mom chuckled. "Well, we made strawberry jam filled cupcakes with strawberry flavored frosting, if you count that as something." She gasped softly almost immediately after she spoke. "Oh, that reminds me, we brought you one!" With only one hand on the steering wheel, she took a cupcake from a cup holder and handed it back to me.

I cupped my hands and lifted it from her. The bread part was wrapped inside of a purple wrapper, and the swirled frosting topping the small cake was a light pink color. Even though it was a few inches from my face, the scent of strawberry was extremely strong; nearly overwhelming for my senses.

"Oh, thanks." I muttered and sniffed the frosting. Then I hesitated for a brief moment before using my tongue to lick the side of the mountain of frosting. The light, fluffy topping was extremely sweet and sugary. But it was definitely strawberry flavored, that's for sure. I had the feeling that I wouldn't be able to get the taste out of my mouth for a week if I ate the entire thing. Although… it did taste good.

I peeled off the wrapper and discarded it into the little handle in the door. A few crumbs broke off of the white cake and fell into my lap. I brushed them off with a hand to scatter them to the floor. Then I took a large bite of the cupcake, determined to eat it even if it was extremely strawberry flavored. But when my teeth sunk into the moist bread, I immediately felt a thick, gooey substance. I didn't spit it out though, knowing that would be impolite, and swallowed as quickly as possible.

With a quick glance, I saw that the majority of the inside was a rich, deep red color. When my mom said they were filled with strawberry jam, I didn't think she meant it was strawberry jam coated in bread crumbs. But apparently that was how it was going to be.

I sucked it up, glad that they even thought to bring me one, and shoved the remaining half of the cake into my mouth. Cupcakes were delicious no matter what, even if they were just a ball of jam with some frosting.

When I finished I ran my tongue over my lips and smacked my hands together. "That was good." I said with a smile. "Thank you."

Beyond smirked. "You're such a messy eater."

I frowned and looked down at my lap. "How did I make a mess? I don't see any crumbs." I defended, but brushed my thighs off anyway just in case. "Where-?" I stopped speaking as a thumb wiped across my cheek, right beneath the bone. I froze there and watched out of the corner of my eye as Beyond cleaned my face with his hand. When he was satisfied with the glob of jam on his thumb, he leaned back over to his side of the car and sucked the substance from his finger.

"How did I manage to get jam on my cheek?" I rubbed the side of my face to make sure there wasn't anything else.

He shrugged and took his finger from his mouth. "Beats me. You must be a natural slob or something."

"Thanks for the compliment, _buddy._" I hissed, sliding him a sharp glare that was met with a cocky smirk.

Before Beyond could come up with a proper response, my phone rang in my back pocket. I pulled it out and looked at its face to see who was calling. It read: _Unidentified Caller_

Since I didn't ever hand out my phone number to people who refused to give me theirs, I ignored it and dropped it in my lap, letting it go to voicemail automatically.

Three seconds later my phone rang again.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Beyond asked, raising an eyebrow.

I groaned. "Fine. Only to get them to shut up."

I accepted the call and put it to my ear. "He-"

"_Yukio Chi, your car is surrounded by armed vehicles with occupants that have no problem with firing. I suggest you get the car to come to a stop before we have to be forceful_." A smooth male voice that reminded me a whole heck of a lot like Beyond's came through the speaker. I flinched at the threat and looked over at Beyond, who I hadn't even noticed had been eyeing the cars around us. Nor had I noticed that all of the cars were large vans and trucks of different shapes and colors, but all of which were able to hide something big and dangerous.

"Is something wrong dear?" My mother asked calmly, unaware of the danger that we were in.

"N-no, everything is fine." I stuttered as I spoke away from the phone. Then I put the microphone next to my mouth to speak. "Excuse me?" I whispered. "Who is this? And how the heck did you get my number?"

"_Miss Chi, I do believe that you have lied to my dear friend Watari, considering you are now in the same car as Beyond Birthday, who I am sure that you recognize. As I said before, those in the vehicles around you will not hesitate to pull the triggers of the guns that are already trained on all three of you. If you wish to cause no harm to your mother or be injured yourself, I do suggest convincing your mother to pull over._"

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

He knew the moment Yuki-chan's skin paled that his predecessor was definitely aware of them, and was now having a little chat. He was barely able to contain the smile that dared to curl his lips. This is what he had wanted all along without even realizing it. He had wanted to put his old friend into such a situation that he would have no good options. Either the great detective could force the car to be pulled over to capture Beyond at the expense of the others in the vehicle, or he could wait until the car had come to a safe stop before moving in, but that risked the chance of the three inside the car formulating a plan, or Yuki-chan possibly never getting the car to stop at all, and driving until all vehicles around ran out of gas.

"Listen, I think you have the wrong number." Yuki-chan muttered, most likely not wanting her mother to hear. He knew that she would rather die than have another one of her family members killed. But with a quick check on both of their lifespans, it seemed that neither of them had changed except for the normal countdown. If all went according to plan, then the both of them should've been fine, even if something reckless did happen. Beyond, however, had no way of knowing if he was to be knocking on death's door anytime soon.

After a couple seconds of silence, Yuki-chan continued with a very grave tone of voice. "I still have no idea what you're talking about."

Beyond only softly chuckled, too soft for anyone to hear. She really was trying to play dumb, wasn't she? He knew it wasn't going to work. This was _L_ she was speaking to, and obviously knew it judging by her panicked expression. L was too clever to be fooled by a simple lie over the telephone. Besides, the car could've been bugged already. Knowing his famous predecessor, it was almost guaranteed.

His eyes fell down to the door handle. In order to keep the both of them alive and well, since neither of them deserved any kind of punishment, that would require some kind of self-sacrifice. He wasn't too keen on the idea of it, but something inside of him, maybe what someone would call a conscience, troubled him that someone else was going to get hurt for his own existence and freedom. Although he really didn't deserve to be free, it wasn't Yuki-chan's fault, nor her mother's.

Still, he did have some slight interest in staying alive. He didn't break out of some jacked up asylum just to die a few days later.

Yuki-chan closed her eyes tightly with pursed lips. She was stressed to such a limit that she didn't know what to do. He could tell by the way a vein in her forehead was swollen that she was in deep thought; thought that she wasn't used to thinking. As an average high school student, she had no idea how to handle the situation she was being put into. Her mother's life was on the line in her mind, and there was no way the girl could know that her mother was supposed to live for many years on. For her, she was probably wondering how she could keep everyone in the car alive. It was only part of a human's nature to want to protect those one cared for. Inside of the vehicle moving at a speed a little short of highway average, that was only her mother. Beyond's safety probably wasn't even being considered, but he wasn't insulted. It's not like he had done much to deserve any kind of preservation anyway.

His eyes somehow found their way back to the door handle. Opening the door would take a lot of strength and momentum just to get it to budge. However, if he just rolled down the window and slid through it, it would probably make matters a lot easier. The car had fairly wide windows that he could probably fit his shoulders through if angled correctly. And the rest of him would fit just fine.

But by opening the window, that would give a clear, untainted shot for many people if they had their weapons trained on the car. There would be no glass to stop or slow the bullet, especially if they continued to shoot after Beyond escaped the car, maybe just out of slow reaction, or maybe the desire to end the life of a liar.

He closed his eyes for a moment to think everything through. L did not know him very well anymore, which allowed him to be unpredictable. L, though, always seemed to think of every possibility, no matter how irrational. So would he be playing right into the hands of his predecessor? Beyond had his doubts about that. If he was right, then L was most likely trying to figure out what the heck to do with the killer once he was caught. In L's mind, he had it all planned out, and expected it to go the way he had predicted. Throwing oneself from an open window was probably not normal for a killer. Maybe a psychotic one, but Beyond still had rational thoughts, so he refused to define himself as 'psychotic' just yet.

His hand slid across the door to wrap his hand around the handle as he opened his eyes once again. It was firm under his tense grip. Beyond wasn't scared of death, but he certainly wasn't welcoming it. Even though he had tried to burn himself to a crisp before, that was only because he didn't expect anything to get better. Right now was just a matter of letting others get hurt for his sake, and he wasn't so sure about that. Besides, it's not like he'd be missed, anyway.

Yuki-chan's eyes nervously flitted over to his hand, which she had apparently noticed had moved. Her eyebrows dropped in confusion, and her frown deepened, but she couldn't question him without sounding suspicious to the other person on the phone.

Next their gazes met for a brief moment. Beyond purposely held a calm and collected expression to keep her from worrying, but even though her face softened a little, she still looked somewhat concerned. Beyond didn't want her to feel any kind of remorse afterwards, which almost made him reconsider. It was unlikely that she would be upset, but it _would_ be another person in her life that had left her. Would she possibly feel that it was her fault? It was possible, but Yuki-chan tended to hide her emotions from others anyway, as he had noticed. So nobody would really ever know what she was feeling.

He bit the inside of his cheek. The vans and trucks around them had begun to close the amount of space for their car to move. They were intentionally creating a box to prevent the car from somehow escaping.

A hand nudged his shoulder suddenly. He glanced over at a very confused looking girl in the seat next to him, the phone pressed to her ear. He didn't know why she hadn't responded in some time, but he wasn't about to question it.

"_What's wrong_?" She mouthed. Was his indecision really that obvious? He would've made a mental note to work on hiding his emotions from his face, but there really wasn't much of a point anymore.

His lips lifted into the most encouraging lopsided grin, a silent way of saying that everything was fine. If she tried to stop him already then he would be out of a plan. His mind was too set on his first plan working to actually think of step two.

His fingers moved to dance over the button to roll down the window. He didn't know why he felt more hesitant than he did at his first attempt at suicide. Then, he knew he didn't have a choice. He had no desire to go to that asylum from the very beginning, and even now didn't want to go back. Still, there was little chance Beyond could survive when he jumped from the car. He wouldn't have to go to that asylum when they found his corpse crumpled on the road with blood streaked around him. So why didn't he just do it already?

"Man, these guys just won't let me over, will they?" Yuki-chan's mother mused aloud. If only she knew what was really happening.

The trucks and vans around them were too close for comfort. It was a gradual change, but Beyond noticed it. Soon L would get impatient and do anything to capture Beyond, even if it meant putting the family in harm's way.

With pursed lips, he slammed two fingers down on the button. The window rolled down without a complaint, and Beyond undid his seatbelt as it did so.

"What are you doing?" Yuki-chan's mother asked, looking in the rearview window.

He didn't give a response. He only pushed himself forwards and hurled himself through the wide open window.

* * *

**Ooh, a cliffhanger! Sorry, I know you'll probably pull out every weapon you can think of to try and kill me because of it, but you'll just have to suck it up :3**

**By the way, I think I might be in love. With you guys. The amount of great feedback I've gotten is _awesome_. Like, seriously, twenty reviews in four chapters?! You guys have totally shocked me! So thank you, I always love a good surprise!**

**What did you think of this chapter? It was a lot longer than my other chapters, but that was because I started on the Beyond's POV at the end, and it went longer than I expected it to. Anyway, did you like it? I really hope so, because I did.**

**I'm always open to comments, suggestions, and critique if you have anything to say! :D Thanks for being an awesome reader and sticking with me.**

**~BurntPickle**


	6. Sarcastic Interrogations

**I don't own Death Note, still, but that's okay because I do own **

* * *

I gaped when Beyond hurled himself through the window. The hand that clutched the phone lost its grip, and the device slipped from my fingers to fall to the ground. His seatbelt hadn't even snapped back into place by the time he jumped.

My mom immediately slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a halt, jerking my body forwards harshly, and the van that was following us from close behind had to swerve off and bump into one of the trucks on our side to keep from slamming into and possibly killing us.

"Beyond!" I yelped and undid my seatbelt, not even caring anymore if Mr. World's Greatest Detective heard me. The vans and trucks took some time to realize what was going on, and since they were driving at highway speeds, it only made sense that they would come to a stop further ahead of us.

"Yukio, wait, it's dangerous!" My mother reached back over the seat to try and grab me to keep me from getting out of the car, but I slipped out of her reach and threw the door open to climb out.

Cars that were on the highway avoided us by getting into different lanes. I stumbled around for a moment, still stuck in shock, as I looked for Beyond's body. I didn't know what to expect, but every possibility I came up with sent horrifying pictures into my mind that I had no interest in thinking about.

I surprised myself with the hot tears that stung my eyes. It was clear to me that Beyond had known what was going on, but I didn't understand why he would throw himself out of the window of a moving car. I could come up with many different options rather than the one he took.

"Beyond?" I yelled over the sound of cars whizzing around me. Traffic wasn't incredibly heavy for now, but I knew that it was around lunch hour, and many hungry people would be hurrying to go and get their McDonalds and then go back to work. If Beyond had waited for an appropriate time to leap from the car and then have his body smack into another vehicle, that would mean that he had the intention to die. But then it hit me that somebody would've stopped if a boy's body slapped their windshield. Nobody seemed to be stopping.

Then I saw him. His body was crumpled on the concrete. I could see where he first hit the ground, because then I saw red skid marks after that from the momentum he had gathered from flying for a few brief moments. They led up to his body, which was still and coated in a sticky layer of blood.

"Beyond!" I repeated, this time in a total horrified cry. I raced over to him and dropped to my knees by his side. He was on his back, his eyes closed, his face marked from hitting the road. His left arm was bent at a sickening angle, and many patches of skin had been rubbed off completely, letting the blood flow freely from his body.

I clamped a hand over my mouth to try and stifle a sob, but in the end was forced to pinch my nose and breathe through my mouth, letting whatever cries that were inside me come out on their own. The stench of everything was nearly unbearable. First of all, the exhaust from all of the cars stained the road. And then I could smell burnt flesh, too, probably from it being dragged across the road. I knew a rug burn hurt, but I could image what it felt like to go through what he did. And then there was the blood, which I didn't even want to look at.

I was trembling there, unsure of what to do. I wanted to check his breathing, but I was scared that I would discover that he wouldn't be breathing at all. I didn't want to be the one to announce his death.

"Yes sir, we've got them both."

I gasped and whirled around, dropping my hand from my face to balance myself. A man in black tuxedo and dark sunglasses with a deep scowl stood a few feet away from me. He had long legs and a broad torso, with a short haircut for his graying dark brown hair. He looked freakishly intimidating with the gun that was holstered at his hip. He had a finger pressed to his ear to speak through an earpiece to some higher official. I wouldn't be surprised if it was L himself he was talking to.

I tightened a hand into a fist and stood with the balls of my feet. I was scared to death, but also pissed. And when you mix fear with anger, bad things always happen. No exceptions.

I blinked hard to force the tears away. I was on the verge of crying, but not yet. Maybe I could pull some tears and get some sympathy later on, but that would be an extremely huge dent to my pride. Would it be worth it?

"Yukio Chi, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." He said in his deep, manly, totally-suitable-for-his-face voice.

"Yeah right," I spit. "I'm too young to go to jail. It's against the law. And besides, where's your proof, huh?"

His scowl deepened, no matter how impossible it seemed. I could imagine his eyes squinted tight in a glare behind those sunglasses. "You have no authority to request access to such things." He spoke in a voice that limited my options of a proper retort.

I parted my lips slightly and blew out a breath through my teeth which were pressed together. A quiet hiss came out. I was getting ticked, and I was beginning to feel even more threatened than ever before. I knew that I was backing myself into a corner here, but there wasn't much I could do.

"Well then you have no authority to send me to jail, or some 'Juvenile Detention Center' if that's what your plan is."

"Miss Chi, you have assisted a criminal in escaping the law and justice. That counts as traitorous to your loyal government."

"Are you effing kidding me?!" I screeched. "You have no idea what has happened the past few days. You see this guy?" I pointed a hand at the might-be-dead Beyond Birthday, who hadn't moved an inch yet. "He's the only reason my mother is still alive. He might be the reason that _I'm_ still alive! If he hadn't killed the man who ended the life of my father, then my mother would definitely not be breathing, and if the odds went in the killer's favor, then I'd be dead too."

The tears flooded into my eyes again as the memory resurfaced in my mind. I clenched my teeth together as tight as I could without cracking them. I fought the desire to break down in sobs right now. My mind was buzzing with stress and fear, and I desperately wanted someone to just explain to me why everything had happened the way it did.

I had lived a normal life just under a week ago. I had okay grades, made friends, was a little weird, got into pointless trouble, and even faced some heartbreak. But all of those tiny interruptions in my life felt miniscule to me now. Looking back at how I used to feel about certain things, it made me feel like I used to be totally pathetic, like I had nothing to whine about. I had no idea what kind of world I would be introduced to.

"Listen, Miss Chi-"

"No!" I barked. "I will not listen. I am not going to let you tell me that it's right to send someone back to a living hell after they saved your life. Sure, maybe the act of kindness wasn't enough to make him a good person, but does it really sound appropriate to you to be so harsh? I mean, look at him! Why do you think he flung his live body from a fast-moving car? For fun?"

My body shook with not only overwhelming sadness, but also uncontrollable anger. I wanted to slam my fist against his jaw so badly right now, but somehow I was able to not lash out at the man. Maybe it was because he was clearly armed and wasn't afraid to show it.

"I understand that you feel that you owe him, but by allowing him to roam free, that is endangering the lives of many others." He explained.

"Oh really?" I humorlessly laughed, mocking him on purpose. "Do killers make pink-frosted jam filled cupcakes?"

That seemed to stump him for a brief moment. No doubt my unexpected response confused him. But all too quickly he recovered, since he was probably trained to stay on task no matter what.

"Please, I do not want to make this more dramatic than it had to be."

I gave him the most confused expression I had. My mouth dropped open and my eyebrows were low and pressed towards each other. "More dramatic?" I waved my arms around at the fast moving vehicles around us. "What, is this too much for you? Then how the heck do you think I feel?"

Just then, a car honked from behind us. I yelped and turned my body halfway around, expecting to see a car speeding towards us like a bowling ball comes towards pins. But instead it was a fancy black car that was rolling to a stop just a few meters away from where Beyond was crumpled on the ground. I really wanted to see him get up, just for the sake of knowing.

When the car door swung open, a familiar elderly man stood and gently shut the door after him. I felt my shoulders tense as soon as I saw his warm face, but I knew that he couldn't possibly be happy.

Watari. The name bounced off of the walls in my mind, echoing over and over. He claimed to know L, but I wouldn't know whether he was lying or not.

"A pleasure to see you again, Miss Chi." He greeted with a bob of his head as he stopped in front of Beyond. He didn't even glance at him, but instead acted like he wasn't even there.

I pursed my lips and sighed through my nose. There was no way out of this that I could take without getting into some serious trouble. Even though I was already _in_ trouble, I really didn't want to dig the hole any deeper. I had to figure out some kind of escape route soon, because without a plan, I would be easily outsmarted.

"It has come to my attention that you have not only lied to me, but also L himself." Watari said, his hands deep in his pockets. "Now, Miss Chi, would you mind explaining to me why you would do so?"

I narrowed my eyes. He had me. I didn't have a good enough excuse to make what I say sound like it wasn't too terribly bad. To them I was officially a traitor.

"I'm sure your little detective buddy has already figured that one out." I snarled. "I mean, seriously now." I gave a gesture to Beyond again. I didn't really want to explain why I lied, to tell the truth, and that's why I was going to attempt to challenge L via Watari. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to outwit someone with an IQ that was, no doubt, triple the amount of mine, but it's not like I could do much better.

* * *

**Beyond's POV – During the above**

* * *

He felt his body go into shock as soon as he collided with the pavement. He knew he landed badly on his left arm, and could feel the bone itself cracking underneath him. He had let out a quiet wheeze, but that's all he could manage before the wind was completely knocked out of him.

It took as long as he expected to finally come to a stop. Every limb stung like there were a million needles pricking into his skin, and his chest was surprisingly heavy. His heart was throbbing inside of his ribcage – which no doubt he cracked a rib or two in the meantime. Although he wasn't trying to move, he felt paralyzed. There was no way he could tell for sure yet if he really was paralyzed, since there was no effort on his part to get off of the road.

And then it hit him.

He wasn't dead.

How was he not dead? He was mad that things didn't go as planned, but when he heard the tires of the car screeching to a stop, he knew that he had to wash his face of all emotion and at least pretend to be dead.

As he laid flat on his back with his arm twisted at a horribly painful angle, he exhaled through his nose and focused on looking… well… dead.

Why would he pretend to be dead? For one thing, he really wasn't in the mood to try and get up and walk. By doing so, that would only bring more pain. Just… five more minutes on the hot concrete of the highway, and maybe then he'd move.

But another reason he refused to announce his survival was because he was curious. How would everyone react? He wasn't going to expect some kind of devastation to come from anyone, but it would still be nice to know. Yuki-chan may have made it clear that she wasn't thrilled about his existence, but that doesn't mean that she would be happy to dance upon his grave.

He wasn't incredibly surprised when it was Yuki-chan to clamber from the car, but there wasn't much that could surprise him anymore. He knew the moment when she came to his side, but he didn't open his eyes. It didn't matter if he was going to try and make his breathing as unnoticeable as possible. She was in too much of a panicked state to actually think rationally. She was scared, and even if she would wait to see his chest moving from the breaths he took, her eyes would most likely trick her into seeing stillness, or even she would really see it, but think that she was just hoping to see that, and convince herself that he really was dead.

So he laid there, uncomfortable and in pain, but all for the sake of a little knowledge. He listened intently to the conversation that went on between Yuki-chan and the man who was in charge of chasing down Beyond. Or, at least, that's who he thought the man was. He could've easily been wrong, though.

And he wasn't even shocked when Watari showed up. In fact it only amused him. He could remember the old man well from back at the Wammy House. Judging by his voice, he had only gotten older, and age was definitely going to slow him down to a stop soon enough.

Beyond had to restrain himself from opening his eyes to looking around at the scene. He didn't want to really sit up just yet, anyway.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

"_Yes, in fact, I have_."

I jumped at the sound of a filtered voice. I instantly looked around for the source, curious as to what could have given off such a sound.

Watari chuckled and pulled out a rectangular phone with a large screen. The face was lit up with only a black Old English letter L on the screen.

_L_. In my mind I hissed the single letter. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously towards the device, but I kept my mouth in a firm line.

"_From what I have heard, Beyond Birthday had apparently saved you and your mother from some stranger. Is that correct?"_

I didn't feel the need to respond. I was sure my silence was enough of an answer.

_"But, Chi, I do believe that you are not one to question or challenge my intelligence, seems how you cannot even notice that your so-called savior is, in fact, breathing, despite what his body has gone through."_

I blinked with a frown and looked down at Beyond, who was actually breathing. Slowly a sly grin crept up his face, and he slid his eyes open coolly. "Hey." He smirked, but his voice was weak. I was shocked he wasn't unconscious even.

"You jerk!" I barked and kicked his less-injured shoulder with the toe of my shoe with just enough force to make him wince. I didn't really want to hurt him too much since he was already probably in a world of pain. "I thought you were dead!"

"That was kind of the point." He said blankly. "You know, so I didn't have to get up?"

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair stressfully. "That's it. I'm done. I'm so effing done." I threw my hands up in the air and turned on a heel. "Go find yourself somewhere else to bake cupcakes, Beyond! I'm changing the locks!" I shouted back as I stomped away.

"_Chi, we are not done here."_ I could faintly hear L's modified voice.

I stopped and glared at the screen over my shoulder. "Forgive me, but I don't believe we ever started anything. Considering we are speaking through some phone, I don't think you really care enough if you're not willing to show your flipping face!"

"_If it makes any difference, you are about to leave us with your unconscious mother at our mercy."_

I froze, my mouth halfway open. Had I seriously forgotten about my own mom in my rage and terror? Jeez, I was a terrible child.

I looked over at the car which my mother was apparently unconscious in. I couldn't just leave her there, but I knew that by going to her would instantly be walking into a trap. I knew I'd never forgive myself if I left her there, which left me with very slim options.

"If I may, I would like to recommend we get out of the middle of a highway." Watari tossed in his two cents while there was a silence from both parties. He did have a point. We _were_ taking up now two lanes of the highway. Odds were that someone was bound to get hit by an inattentive driver.

I scowled and started to jog towards the car to make sure that they didn't do anything to my mom, but the man that was dressed in the suit stepped in front of me to prevent me from going anywhere. I tried to sidestep him, but he pulled out his gun from his waistband and held it straight in the center of my forehead. I froze in the middle of my step, my jaw slack. I didn't doubt that he would shoot me. I was of no importance, really, but only someone who was on the side of an escaped killer.

I worked to regain my composure, and I replaced my gawk with a sly smirk to try and outwit the man who had a gun pointed to my forehead. Maybe it wasn't very smart to try and do so, but hey, I didn't have much left to lose.

_"Watari, if you would, make sure both Beyond and Chi are restrained and in separate vehicles. Take them to the nearest police station and from there I will interrogate them both_."

The elderly man nodded. "Of course, sir."

I was not a happy camper. I sat in a foldable metal chair with my wrists chained to a table that was bolted to the concrete floor. I couldn't stand up without having the cuff dig into my skin, and I couldn't shift around without straining the muscles in my lower arms. I was in the 'interrogation room' as I believed it to be. It wasn't much, but it was soundproof from the inside out, and also the outside in, which meant the only way someone would be able to hear me was through speakers and microphones, or a face-to-face/face-to-screen chat.

I groaned loudly and threw my head back to scream. "My nose inches!" I screeches and rubbed my face against my shoulder, but it didn't make the bothersome feeling go away.

_"Considering all that has happened, I do not believe you should be complaining about such a disruption."_ The oh-too-familiar modified voice crackled through a speaker above me. I shifted my eyes to study it. It was nothing special, just a circular grey speaker in the wall with tiny holes around it. It reminded me a lot of a shower head.

"Oh, hello L. Nice to hear from you again." I snickered, glaring at the speaker. I wasn't sure if there was a camera in the room or not, so I would have to make due with me glowering at the sound source rather than his actual face.

_"I am going to assume you are being sarcastic, considering the recent events."_

Was this guy some kind of robot? Like, seriously, did he have to say that? Maybe L was just some big super-genius computer and not a real person. It was very possible. Like, he could've been some kind of extremely advanced Siri. Or he might have been some talking version of Google. Oh, the possibilities!

"010011000!" I shouted out, not even knowing what that computed to.

"_Again I will assume you have no idea what you just tried to say."_

"I actually just said a word?" I laughed quietly. "What did I say?"

_Your so called 'word' was just a jumbled mess of zeros and ones. It was no real word from any language, but instead just unintelligible digits."_ He said in a monotone voice that sounded incredibly bored.

"Then let me ask you this, L: How do you know how to speak – err, understand – Binary?"

"_I am fluent in many languages, including Binary. However, that is not what we are to speak about."_

I groaned again. "Then can you at least get in here to talk with me? I'm tired of yelling at the speaker." It was true. I_ was_ using an outdoor-appropriate volume.

"_There is no need for you to shout, Chi, for I can even hear you whisper with the technology we have."_

"Jeez, can you hear my thoughts, too?" I joked in a quieter voice, glad that I didn't have to yell. He could've told me sooner, though. My throat felt raw already

_"No._" He shot my sarcasm immediately. I was hoping that at least he could be a smartass to lighten the mood in the room, but apparently not.

I sighed and let my body hunch forwards so that I could rest my chin on the desk. My elbows had to splay out uncomfortably because I couldn't move my wrists, and the edge of the desk was digging into my ribcage, but other than that I was fine.

"Hey L, before we start anything, could you tell me what you did with my mom?"

_"No."_ He repeated. "_That information is unavailable to you until you answer all the questions I ask you, and you must be truthful. If I am suspicious of any lies I will not hesitate to inject you with sodium thiopental, or as you might know it is the 'truth serum'."_

I gritted my teeth together in frustration. "Tell me where my mom is and you won't _have_ to use that serum to get the truth out of me."

"_Chi, do not make this more complicated than it has to be. There are only a few questions I need to ask and then it will be over._"

"It wouldn't have to be complicated if you would just give me the one answer I need!" I screamed and tightened my hands into fists. My nails dug into the bunched up skin on my palm, but the pain was more relieving than anything. I needed something to get my anger out on, and there wasn't a pillow around for me to punch.

"_Chi, please calm down. There is no need to be angry. Your mother is fine, and in confinement to be questioned also. In fact, the sooner this interrogation gets over, the quicker your mother can finish with hers and be released to freely go back to your home._"

"That's great and all," I hissed. "But how am I supposed to know that you're not lying?"

"_I have no reason to lie to you about your own mother."_

I smirked and closed my eyes. I felt the muscles around my shoulders and underneath the skin on my back beginning to relax a little bit. I had no other choice but to trust the robotic detective and hope that he really was telling the truth.

"And what about Beyond?" I questioned.

"_I do believe that it is my turn to be asking the questions."_

My smirk dropped into a frown. In order to get information out of him, that would require making some kind of compromise, wouldn't it? I had a generally fair idea growing in my mind, but I didn't have much time to fully think it out, which meant I would most likely have to wing it.

"How about we make a deal?" I purred.

"_I would rather not, considering the high possibility of you breaking your side of the agreement._"

I continued anyway, not really giving a crap about what he had to say anyway. "How about this? You tell me what you plan to do with Beyond, and I'll give you as much information as you want in this interrogation."

"_With or without the deal, I will still get the information out of you, Chi. Besides, Beyond Birthday should be none of your concern. He is an insane criminal who does not deserve freedom."_

I tried to not get angry again, but I could feel it boiling inside of me. "Why did he kill, then?" I snarled. All that I was answered with was dead silence. "You _don't know_, do you? You probably haven't even asked him that question."

It was a moment before he gave me an answer. "_I have asked him that very question many times, but every answer given to me was never convincing enough."_

"Just what were those answers, L? Have you ever thought that maybe he was speaking the truth, and it just seemed too impossible for that technological brain of yours?"

"_I have thought of countless hypotheses, many of which would be deemed impossible by the average person, but there were far too many to narrow down to just one with the little amount of evidence given. But with all of these questions you're challenging me with, it has come to my attention that it sounds like you're _defending_ the man."_

I briefly went back over the conversation in my head. Yeah, it really did, didn't it? It probably wasn't the best thing I could've done.

"And if I am? What are you going to do to me? Ground me?" I snorted. "Wow, I think I would actually be impressed with myself if I got _grounded_ by the world's greatest detective. I can already imagine what Akira would say!" I started laughing to myself until my sides hurt. I would've clutched my stomach and wiped at my eyes, but sadly, my arms were _still_ cuffed to the friggin' table. I was actually beginning to lose feeling in my fingers.

"_Who is this Akira?"_

"He is not involved with this topic."

_"Who is he, Chi?"_ L repeated in a more demanding voice.

It was a stupid mistake of mine to let Akira's name slip from my tongue. I had to fix it, and irritating L probably wasn't the best idea. "He's just a friend." I replied quietly, testing out how good his equipment really was. "He's gay, as a matter of fact." I lifted my chin from the table and stared at the speaker with a sly smirk. "But he wouldn't be interested in someone like you, sorry. He's already got a crush on this guy named Light."

"_Light… Yagami?"_

I could _feel_ the air change and I wasn't even in the same room as him. His voice was full of bewilderment and shock, but thankfully not hurt or pain, or else I wouldn't have been able to contain my laughter.

"Yeah, Yagami was his last name, I believe. You know the guy? Akira was going on and on about how he was some kind of genius."

"_Yes, in fact I have met him. Could you tell me where this Akira lives?"_

"No, I can't. Only because his mom wouldn't be happy if the police showed up at their doorstep asking to speak to her son. You understand why, don't you? I mean, Akira is a great kid, but you know how parents are. They tend to jump to conclusions sometimes if it seems like to only logical answer. I don't want my best friend mad at me for scaring the crap out of his mom."

"_Then could you tell me his last name?_"

"I could, but that would just make it easier for you to figure out where he lives."

Through the microphone I could hear a soft sigh of exasperation coming from the detective's mouth. It amused me to know that I was making things hard on him, but I knew that I was pushing his buttons, and pretty soon he'd probably just give me a shot of that truth serum crap and my little bits of entertainment would be over.

_"Fine then, let's move on. When did you meet Beyond?"_

I shrugged. "A few days ago, I guess."

"_When exactly did you meet?"_

I rolled my eyes. "If you must know, I think we met, like, yesterday or something. Maybe it was the day before that. I can't really remember. A lot has happened recently, so it all is just kind of blurred together in my mind."

"_I do not want to accept that answer, but considering you're already quite stubborn, I will just put that question on hold and move on while you're still talking. Anyway, do you know why he didn't kill you on the spot?"_

I blew a breath through my lips. "You'd have to ask him that. I don't know, really. I've tried asking him, but he hasn't really given me much of an answer."

"_I expected that, but I wanted to be sure. Where did you encounter him?"_

"It was actually the other way around. He popped out of nowhere as I was walking home from school. He scared me to death, actually. Made me spill my Cheerios."

"_Do you think he had the intention to kill you at the beginning?"_

I hesitated a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I think so. He pointed his knife directly at my throat and even pierced the skin a little bit, but never did any serious damage. It was as if he was just playing with me to amuse him. He might've went ahead and killed me if my mother hadn't shown up."

"_Could you please describe that scene for me?"_

I didn't want to. I didn't want to at all. I shook my head. "I'd rather not."

_"Chi,"_ He warned.

"Fine!" I shouted, getting irritated by the endless questions he was asking. At first I was sort of okay with it, but now I was just ticked. What did he need to know, anyway? "My mom came along screaming because she was being chased down by some guy who I didn't even know, and instead of letting him kill her, Beyond decided to throw his knife at my mom's attacker and kill him rather than just teaming up with the guy and killing us both. I have no idea why, so don't even try to ask me. If you do I swear I will teleport to you and wring your neck."

"_From what I've observed, that is not possible for you."_

I groaned and dropped my forehead to the table with a noticeably loud _thud_. "Thank you for making that clear." I grumbled.

"_I do not see why I had to, considering you should know by now that humans cannot teleport despite what you might wish. Unless, of course, you've have improper or abnormal education, then I can understand."_

Another grumbled of anger gargled in my throat. "Are we done here?" I changed the subject abruptly.

"_No, actually, I would like to know your contact with Beyond since your first meeting."_

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly lifted my head from the cool metal of the table. "Contact? As in interactions?"

"_You could think back and remember what happened while you were with him, that would be beneficial."_

"What's in it for me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

I knew he was silent to think out his next words carefully. I should've just asked that question earlier. Probably would've saved me a lot of pain. "_I can promise you will not be sent to a Juvenile Detention Center if you are willing to continue this interrogation with as few complaints as possible._"

I grinned. "Sounds good to me. Also, could you free my wrists? I'd be much happier if I could lounge back in my chair."

"_No, those handcuffs will only open manually with a certain key that Watari has in his possession at the moment."_

"Then can Watari free me?"

"_Not without my permission."_

I wanted to drag my palm down my face so badly at the moment. "Then could you possibly give Watari permission to open my cuffs? I might be a little happier if you did."

_"No, not until we are finished."_

I moaned unhappily and slouched forwards with a frown. "But I'm so bored."

"_We are close to finishing, if that makes anything better."_

"Great, then hurry up."

_"Alright, then answer the question I asked."_

I curled my upper lip in confusion. "What did you ask again?"

"_How did you and Beyond interact?"_

"Oh, yeah. Let's see… I took him to buy strawberry jam, which he somehow managed to pickpocket some guy for money. Don't worry, I scolded him for it. And then I came home, kicked him out of the house, and went to sleep. Then I woke up this morning, took a shower, and found him in the kitchen making strawberry jam filled cupcakes of all things. Then I realized I had to go to school, so I quickly got ready and headed off. I went halfway through the school day before my mom picked me up and then we started going to eat somewhere, which," I raised up a finger from a pinned hand and stayed silent for a moment. On cue my stomach grumbled at a surprising volume. "I am starving here. And I'm sure you know the rest of the story."

"_I see. From what you briefly described, it sounds that Beyond has not showed much suspicious behavior."_

"Yes, exactly! Now you see it!"

"_However, I cannot make a good conclusion based off of just one witness. If your mother tells a fairly similar story, then I'll be a little more convinced. Still, that does not mean that Beyond will be freed. It would be too risky to just allow him to wander the streets of Japan. He could possibly lash out at any given moment if provoked."_

"From what I've seen, it's nearly impossible to provoke the guy. You wouldn't believe how many times we've made fun of each other, and he didn't even bat an eyelash. I guess you could say he isn't easily insulted."

"_Yes, Beyond has never been someone to really care what others think or say about him."_

If I hadn't known that he had been raised with L, I would've been confused. To me it sounded like L was in some kind of deep thinking process that was being carried out verbally with me. Like we were bouncing ideas off of each other, or something. I didn't realize it at first, but my body was starting to relax further and further now that the interrogation seemed to be turning into more of a brainstorming session. I didn't mind, since answering his questions had been boring, anyway.

I was curious, though, to see L's side of the story. There were two different perspectives, and I hadn't mentioned knowing about them growing up together.

"How do you know that?" I questioned, sounding as clueless as I could possibly manage. Considering I often used the tone because I was actually clueless, I didn't have a hard time using it now.

"_That is none of your business."_ He replied. I grumbled quietly under my breath, unhappy with that answer. I had thought he might've shared some of his past with me, but apparently he would never blow any kind of his cover no matter what I tried to do. Still I wanted to know about L. He had to have some kind of interesting past if he was smart enough to become the world's greatest detective.

"Fine, fine…" My stomach snarled again. I tensed my abdominal muscles to try and silence it, but it didn't do much. "Hey, L?"

"_Yes?"_

"I'm hungry," I whined. "I need food."

There was a quick pause again. "_Fine. While I question your mother, I will have Watari feed you. You will be allowed to use one hand to eat, but the other will remain stuck to the table until you are allowed to leave_."

I wanted both hands free, but I wasn't about to complain. At least I didn't have to eat with my face from a bowl like a dog.

So I beamed anyway. "Thank you!" I chimed happily.

* * *

**Who is up for an early chapter? I AM! Yeah, truth be told, I was too excited to wait until the weekend to write this chapter, so I did it in whatever free time I could find. I'm impressed with its length, too. six thousand words of pure story is quite a lot. But, anyway, let me know what you think. If you find any mistakes, feel free to let me know. :)**

**I am so thrilled with how this story is coming along. I am awesome readers, superb support, and endless encouragement. Plus it's just plain _fun_ to write this. Sure, it may not be all fluffy or whatever people call it these days, but that's fine with me, because I personally prefer stories with at least some kind of background, even if it isn't all that much.**

**Woot woot, it's almost Halloween! I'm so excited that I'm actually counting down the days. Is anyone going to dress up and go trick-or-treating? I am! I'm going to be Jeff the Killer, or maybe Beyond Birthday if I can't get the makeup right for Jeff's mouth. I would go as L, but... I don't believe I'm good enough to cosplay as L. Although, he does love his sweets... *Insert thoughtful look***

**Gah, this isn't the place to chat about that. Anyway, can't wait to update soon! Thanks for staying with me! Love you all ;D**

**~BurntPickle**


	7. Endless Questions

**I do not own Death Note, no matter how totally cool and awesome it is.**

* * *

I happily shoved part of the sandwich into my mouth with my free hand that had been released from the table.. Just twenty seconds ago, Watari had dropped off a freshly made sandwich and an ordinary bottle of water. I didn't even look to see what was in between the bread before digging in. I gladly inhaled the meal for my stomach to enjoy without even thinking of the possibility of it being drugged or something. By the time the thought actually came to mind, I had already swallowed, so it was pointless to stop eating now.

I had crumbs spilling everywhere underneath me. I was always a slob when I ate, even if I was trying to be dainty. You could count on me to always make a mess no matter what was on my plate.

I didn't time myself, but I was sure it took my less than I minute to devour the entire sandwich. It tasted amazing, and my mouth watered for more, but I had doubts that Watari would bring me another.

Moving on, I reached over and grabbed the water bottle. It was cold to touch, and covered in condensation. It made my hand slippery and let, but eventually I dragged the bottle over to me, leaving behind a trail of liquid on the table.

I twisted the cap, but it didn't open. My hand continued to slide over the top with no grip. Frustrated, I pushed harder, but all that did was hurt the soft skin on my palm.

I lunged forwards and latched my jaws onto the top. I turned the bottle with my hand, but it wouldn't stay still with my slick hand.

In frustration and anger, I screamed and hurled the bottle across the room, letting it bounce against the wall and to the ground.

And it still didn't open.

I dropped my head and let my forehead bang against the table. The sound echoed through the room for a brief moment before dying off.

"I'm bored." I whined loudly into the metal.

"_Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but you have been doing nothing for approximately four seconds. I find it hard to believe you can be bored already, especially after just eating."_

I frowned and looked up to glare at the speaker above me. "I thought you were gone."

"_He is gone. I am not L."_

"You're not? Then who are you?"

"_That information is not necessary to you."_

I grumbled and rested my chin on the table. My back arched uncomfortably to do so, but at least it gave my neck a break. "Fine then, you will be L-number-two."

"_That is fine with me."_

I did a mental 'whatever' shrug and breathed out a sigh through puffed cheeks. "So, L-number-two, what are you doing here?"

"_I am not allowed to tell you that."_

"Oh, I see, so you must be someone who works for L if you have to get permission to say something to me. Well, that's going under the assumption that L is in charge of this. If he isn't – which I find that hard to believe – then you must work for that person in charge."

* * *

**Near's POV**

* * *

The young, snow haired color boy mentally scolded himself for slipping up. The girl had caught onto his unintended hint, and now knew something else about him. He curled his fingers into a fist and pressed his pale lips into a thin line. This was his first interrogation without supervision of L or Watari. He was incredibly nervous, although he wouldn't never admit to it. What was upsetting him was the mistakes he was already making.

He studied the girl through the camera. She had assisted Beyond Birthday in staying out of the asylum, but to him, she didn't look like the kind of girl to do that sort of thing every day.

Near reached across his desk to scoop up the paperwork on the girl that was printed out for L recently. It still smelt of ink from the printer, and paper was still crisp.

_Yukio Chi._ The name read. Her last name could have multiple possible meanings. One of which was an element, earth in specific. Another definition meant blood or power. And the last definition he knew of was a suffix to add to a name, similar to –Chan or –Kun. He didn't have to know the origin of the surname, but he was curious to know it.

"_Hey, L-number-two, you still there?_" Yukio Chi called out.

"Yes." He replied as he pressed a button on the microphone to allow sounds to go through. Without pressing it, Yukio Chi could not hear him or anything that happened outside of the room she was contained it.

"_You don't like to talk much, do you? That's funny, because L would never shut up. It was question after question with him, but you're quiet. I think I like you more. Maybe because you know the definition of "privacy"."_

The girl continued to muse, but her words began to fall onto deaf ears. If she said anything interesting or useful, he had it all being recorder to be watched again later on. She wasn't _annoying_, but she certainly was something else. And for her to think that _L_ was the one who talked a lot.

He lifted a hand to absentmindedly twist a piece of his curled hair around a finger. He stared at the screen with the image of the girl and the room around her displayed on it. His thoughts raced with ease from practice. Thinking was his biggest strength.

"_Hey, L-number-two, wanna play a game_?"

Near flinched and blinked at the screen.

"What do you mean?" Near responded, only slightly curious to see what she had in mind. Really he had no interest in entertaining her, but considering he had nothing else to do, he could at least listen to her.

"_How about we play hangman? I'll think of a word, and you guess it in as few tries as possible!" _She explained. He already knew how to play to game, but he didn't bother and try to stop her from talking. It didn't sound like she planned to fall silent anytime soon. "_Oh, and don't worry, I won't cheat!"_ She added quickly.

Near sighed quietly. Was this really the girl who tried to hide a killer from L?

But, alas, he decided to humor her for some time. At least one round, since he had nothing to lose. There was no chance that he wouldn't be able to guess it.

"Fine. You have five seconds to pick a word."

Yukio Chi thought for a few seconds; three and a half to be exact, before perking up again. "_Got it!_" She chimed. "_Okay, so it's a seven letter word. You go ahead and guess a letter and I'll tell you if you got it right or not. If you did, I'll tell you which space it belongs in."_

Near almost wanted to point out that he already knew how to play, but it was pointless now that all instructions had been given out. He didn't care to waste his breath, anyway.

"'O'." Near replied.

She frowned. "_Dang, you're right already. There's an 'o' in spot two and spot six."_

Near smirked to himself. These simple games were far too easy for him. If he was to play such a game with someone of higher intelligence, they would never make the mistake of choosing such a short word. Maybe for her seven letters was considered long, but she, of course, was someone with average intelligence.

"'E'." He continued to play, knowing that he would definitely be able to guess the word soon.

She groaned. "_Please tell me you really can't hear my thoughts, because L assured me that he couldn't, but maybe you're better than him or something."_

Near's mind froze when she suggested that he could've been better than L. _The L_. He would've taken it as a compliment if she hadn't been talking about something impossible.

He quickly regained his composure and answered her a second after she had spoken. "No, I cannot hear your thoughts."

"_You better not be able to. Anyway, there's an 'E' in the fourth spot."_

Two for two. As expected from L's successor.

"'B'." Was Near's final guess. He had a few possibilities of the word running in his mind, but there were too many to just choose one. He had a fairly good trust in his choice of letter 'B'. Beyond Birthday would, of course, be lingering in the back of her mind until she was given some kind of closure to what happened to him after they were separated. Even if she hadn't been fully thinking about him on purposely, he would still be there, poking at her thoughts until she gave into the topic for her mind to dwell upon.

She slapped her bare palm against the table. "_How are you doing this?!"_

"It is simple. I first begin by choosing a single letter, most likely a vowel of some sort, or a common letter, and then I tell it to you for you to then judge if it is one of the letters in the word of your choice or not." Near explained emotionlessly. "If I am right, you-"

"_I know how to play the game, smart one."_ She interrupted. "_B is the first letter of the word."_

Near knew the word immediately, but he waited for three seconds before giving his answer. Mostly just to let her believe that he had to put some kind of thought into the word.

"Boredom." Near guessed.

She pouted. "_You're right… Was it that easy?"_

"Yes. Your word was incredibly predictable. If you ever want to play the game again with anybody, I suggest choosing a word that is incredibly off topic that you haven't said recently and does not describe how you feel. If you were to choose a more complicated, uncommon, and unexpected word, such as antechamber or evanescent, then the game would be much more entertaining for you."

She did not look happy. _"Fine, your turn. Choose a word."_

Near couldn't help but smirk. She really was a fool to try and play a game that involved vocabulary with him.

"Eleven letters. Five vowels if that helps you at all."

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

"'W'!" I screeched, extremely frustrated with L-number-two. If we were counting how many times I missed a letter, not only would my little stick figure be dead, but an entire population of criminals would be hanging by a necklace of rope.

"_You have already guessed that letter three times._"

"Ugh… What is this, some kind of name for a cancer or something?"

_"Even if it was, I would assume that you would've guessed it by now. Really, all you have is one space left. According to the law of probability, you should've completed the word by now. Yukio Chi, I do believe you are defying nature with your horrible guessing."_

"Am I supposed to be flattered?"

"_I cannot tell you how you are supposed to feel about anything. That if your decision to make."_

"Oh good, at least you're not some kind of tyrant. I was definitely worried."

"_I don't see why you would be."_

I sighed in defeat and let my neck go limp so my head sagged forwards. "How about E?"

"_Yukio Chi, the letters in the word I have chosen are m-e-l-l-i-space-l-u-o-u-s. You have already guessed 'E' eight times now."_

"Oh shut up…" I snarled. "Fine, I give up. What is the word?"

"_Mellifluous."_

"Huh?"

_"Mellifluous." _He repeated.

"Define that for me, please. I didn't even know that was a word."

"_It means having a smooth or rich flow."_

My lips dropped into a scowl. "Why couldn't you have picked something… I don't know… NORMAL?!"

"_I could have easily chosen a word in a different language, such as French or German. You never said it was against the rules. Shall we play again?"_

"No, you're no fun." I grumbled and propped my chin up on my palm with my elbow placed on the table. I was hunched over, glaring at the wall in front of me.

"_That is fine with me."_

And then the room was shrouded in silence. I drummed the fingers of my cuffed hand against the table and tapped my foot to the same rhythm.

Without anything to distract it, my mind began to wander off on its own to thoughts that I didn't want to think.

What happened to Beyond? Did they execute him already just to get everything over with? It's not like he had many reasons to not be killed. And L didn't seem to have an extreme soft spot for the guy. And what about my mom? How long was her questioning going to take? I was ticked at L-number-two, and so if L-number-one was to come back, maybe I could channel my anger back to him.

I softly hummed to myself and bobbed my head against my knuckles to the song in my head. I couldn't remember the name of it, and I wouldn't dare try and get myself killed by L-number-two with my atrocious singing voice. There was only so much someone could take, and off-key singing was definitely something that could push buttons.

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

He tugged his arms back and forth as he squirmed against the tight fabric. It wasn't his first time in a straitjacket, but it was never easy to get used to. The material used to make the things was always rough and uncomfortable, making his arms itch, even if he had his sleeves pulled down to his wrists. And the cast that secured his broken arm made it even worse.

He knew he wasn't back at the asylum just yet, but instead in an interrogation room. He was backed up against the wall, his head bowed forwards limply. His dark hair was swung over his eyes, splotching out parts of his vision, but he didn't really care about that. What he _did_ care about was figuring out how to escape from this place. With his arms tied to his chest, there wasn't much he could do with his upper body except thrash around.

Beyond hadn't escaped the straight jacket on his own the first time. He had gotten some help from another person, and even then it was tough. Without anyone else in the room, there was no way he could bribe someone to lend him a hand.

"_Beyond Birthday_," A smooth yet stern voice crackled over the speaker in the ceiling. Even through the voice modifications he could still recognize the man addressing him. There was no way he could ever forget that tone of voice. A wicked smile curled his lips upwards. "_I must say I'm impressed with you to some extent. The ability to possibility gain the trust of not only one person, but two, is quite astonishing. Both Yukio and Keiko Chi seem to defend you and your rights rather than agree to put you back in the asylum."_

Beyond couldn't help but chuckle softly and toss his head back to stare at the ceiling under a cool gaze. "It's been a long time, _L_." He purred, but his voice was hard and held a noticeable grudge underneath it. "Have you missed me?"

"_I can't say that I have, B."_

He snorted. "As expected. Don't worry, I'm not insulted any. Your opinion does not matter to me." He casually dismissed his old predecessor without batting an eyelash. He held his cocky smirk, as if he didn't have a care in the world. But underneath he was racing. He was trying to formulate some kind of plan, but something kept interrupting. And that interruption had a name. The Chi family. He didn't understand why he even cared what happened to the girl and her mother, but maybe he was just curious. That's what he summed it up as, and decided to leave it at that.

"_That is fine with me. I have questions for you, Beyond, and that is why we are having his conversation."_

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it, please."

"_How many kills have you made ever since you escaped?"_

"One." He replied truthfully. There was no point in lying when he wasn't ashamed of what he had done.

"_From what I've heard, your victim was the attacker of Keiko Chi. Is that correct?"_

"Yeah."

"_Tell me why you would do that?"_

Beyond pursed his lips together tightly. Even after coming up with many different possibilities, none of them felt right. Each one just seemed too off. It frustrated him to just think about it.

"I don't really know." Beyond admitted with a shrug.

"_Beyond, tell me!"_ L demanded, his modified voice growing impatient already.

Beyond rolled his eyes. "I just did, genius. _I don't know_. It was a split decision. Do I need a reason for everything I do?"

"_I'm sure that you know better than I do that ending a life is not a decision made on a whim."_

Beyond's smirk dropped into a frown. Why did L want to know so badly, anyway? It's not like it changed anything whether he knew why Beyond killed the man or not. Really, all L wanted was some kind of closure to the question. It would stir L's thoughts until he came to an official answer. Beyond couldn't resist the temptation to leave his predecessor in the grey.

Beyond stayed silent as he closed his eyes and let his head drop back against the wall to rest there. He steadied his breaths into a slow tempo. His muscles began to unlock themselves from their tense state, and his mind started to calm down. However, despite the silent his mind was almost at, he couldn't help but continue to wonder what was going to happen to the Chi family. Would they be arrested or fined for assisting him, even if it really wasn't their choice whether they wanted to help the criminal or not? His curiously continued to lurk in his head, and that was the one thing he couldn't get to shut up.

"_BB, I expect an answer from you."_

He didn't give an answer. He didn't even lift an eyelid.

"_You're making this harder than it has to be, Birthday. There are two other lives on the line right now, besides yours. I think they'd prefer it if you didn't tempt me to make their next few years miserable."_

That seemed to bring out some kind of reaction in him. He slid open his eyes to glare at the room directly across from him, where a camera was positioned to point straight at him. It was stacked upon a tripod with its legs spread far away from one another for balance. Oh how tempted he was to waddle over there and kick it, just to irritate his dear friend.

"You wouldn't do that, L. You don't have enough evidence." Beyond replied coolly. "Besides, even if you could make their lives worse, why would you? It won't change anything, except maybe make you look like some kind of dictator." He shrugged his shoulders to the best of his ability. The taut fabric squealed at just the slight movement.

That seemed to quiet the clever detective. One advantage Beyond had was with his cunning words. All throughout his life he had always been good at talking to people. Of course, he didn't necessarily like wasting his time on a petty conversation, but it came in handy when he wanted something. How else could he have convinced the one man to help him out of the straightjacket? He didn't have anything to bribe him with. The best he could do was stroke the guy's ego and compliment the fool. It burned his pride a little, but when you've got your arms stuck to your chest, there isn't much pride left to lose.

L never spoke again after that. He must've either just decided to not pick the conversation up again, or he left. Either way, it left Beyond alone with his thoughts, which even the killer knew was a bad combination for company. But that was fine with him, since three was told to be a crowd, anyway.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

"Okay… are you an instrument?"

"_No."_

"Can I pick you up?"

"_That depends on the size and weight of the object that I have in mind. However, I will assume that you haven't come in contact with one that is too heavy to pick up, so yes."_

I blinked with a frown, but soon shrugged. "Can I open you?"

"_Yes."_

"Are you an electronic?"

_"No."_

"Ooh! Ooh! I think I know! You're a book!"

"_Yes, that is correct."_

I pumped the fist that wasn't cuffed to the table. "And it only took thirteen guesses!" I hooted.

"_Twenty-six._" L-number-two corrected.

I gawked at the ceiling like an idiot. "So you _were_ paying attention!"

"_It is my job to observe everything around me with as many possible senses that I possess. That includes keeping track of everything, such as your guess count. However, I must say, considering the game was titled 'twenty-questions', I believe that you have to make a guess at the twenty count mark, and if you're wrong, you lose and I win."_

I puffed out my cheeks as I blew out a frustrated breath. "Yeah, well, you weren't playing fair."

"_How did you come to that conclusion? The only way I wouldn't be playing fair is if I lied, which I didn't. It had to be your off-topic guesses that brought your count higher. Such as, and I quote, "Can you breathe air?" and then followed by, "Can you breathe water?" when you could have easily just combined them into one single question."_

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever Mister Smarty Pants. If you're so smart, then why did you choose to be a book of all things?"

"_I had limited options. You told me to choose something simple that you would know of and could guess based upon your normal education. But you still took more questions that necessary to guess correctly, so I would say the extremely low difficulty I chose for you is appropriate."_

"Do you get a kick out of belittling me or something? Because, really, you seem to be showing no hesitation when you want to insult me."

"_I am not condescending you, despite your beliefs. I am simply stating the facts."_

"With loads of bias on them…" I grumbled with a snarl on my lips.

For the past thirty minutes we had been playing games like this. Just back and forth we'd play. Of course, he always won or had a better score, but at least I was slightly entertained. And I didn't have to answer any serious questions, either.

Suddenly the door opened. I glanced over and gained a spark of hope at the sight of Watari. "Good afternoon, Miss Chi."

"Hey, Watari. What's up?" I replied, not even realizing at first how informal I was being compared to him. He didn't seem to mind, however.

"L has finished with all of the interrogations. You are free to leave this room now and see your mother."

I stood up abruptly, shoving the chair backwards and clatter to the floor behind me. My restrained wrist complained with a throb, but I ignored it. "Really?" I asked hopefully, praying that he wasn't being a jerk and lying to me.

"Of course." He walked over and unlocked the cuff around my wrist. I barely had time to thank the old man before I tore myself away from that table and flew out the open door.

"Mooooooooom!" I bellowed down the hall. My voice echoed around, and I began taking off down the first hallway I say. "Where are you?"

"Miss Chi, you're going to wrong way!" Watari called after me, a slight hint of exhaustion in his voice. "Allow me to lead you to her!"

I skidded to a stop and turned on a heel. I always knew I had a bad sense of direction, but could I not count on natural instinct? Reluctantly I marched back and came to a stop at Watari's side, my head bowed in defeat. "Fine."

He chuckled. "Follow me, please."

Watari began walking down a different hallway than what I took. But it looked the exact same; a boring beige colored carpet with burgundy colored walls and white trimming. There wasn't anything hung on the walls, but there were plenty of doors, all of which were closed and had no windows to peek through. I was curious to see what was inside, but I had more important things to do.

A few twists and turns later, we reached what looked to be the main lobby. Plastic chairs were pushed up against the walls and shoved together to conserve as much space as possible. Two large glass doors offered an escape, and here there were at least five photos per wall. But what captured my attention was my mom waiting in one of the chairs, her hands folded on top of his lap. Her eyes immediately met mine, and she was on her feet in seconds. I abandoned Watari's side to throw myself into my mother's open arms.

I closed my eyes and smiled to breathe in her scent through my nose as I wrapped my arms around her waist. She always smelt like lavender when we decided to go out. It was some kind of lotion she liked to wear, and it definitely smelt good. It was a comforting scent in my mind, and it would forever remind me of her.

With a hand she smoothed my hair down, which couldn't even be called a bun anymore. It was more like a broken fountain that still wanted to spray water everywhere. With all that had happened, though, a messy hairdo was not even making the list of my concerns.

But what did top that list… was Beyond…

Where the heck did they take that psychopath? It was possible that they could've already thrown him into an asylum without hearing his side of the story. I mean, it's not like they had a reason not to.

"Your car is outside, Miss Keiko Chi. You and your daughter are free to go." Watari walked up and placed the car keys in my mother's hand after we separated. He then backed up and bowed politely with a hand crossed to the opposite shoulder.

"Thank you." My mother smiled and started to head towards the door. "Come on, Yukio."

"Wait a minute," I interrupted, not moving a step despite my mother's intentions. "What about Beyond?"

My mom looked at me with an expression full of worry. Like, motherly worry. I didn't understand why, especially since I was just a little concerned about someone who threw themselves from a moving car for us. Or, at least, I thought that was the reason. Maybe he just wanted a few battle scars or something.

"Beyond is not allowed to leave his confinement." Watari explained to me.

"But that's not fair. Why are you treating him like some kind of rabid animal? He _is_ human, you know."

"Yes, I am very aware of that, Miss Yukio Chi, but that does not mean that L is willing to let him out of his sight. Beyond Birthday is a very dangerous and unpredictable person. We-"

"That's only because you've never heard his side of the story!" I lashed, rage bubbling in my chest.

"Have you?"

I was startled by the new yet slightly familiar voice. I looked over at a boy, with snow white hair and large eyes. He couldn't have been any older that thirteen. He was dressed in long white clothes that looked to be too big for him, as if he expected to grow into them sometime soon. His voice was a little monotone, but also a little curious.

I frowned and looked at the boy. "Who are you?"

"Yukio Chi, please answer the question before asking any of your own. It would help your mind keep track of everything."

I was insulted at the belittling statement. Seriously, who was he to think I couldn't sort out all of the questions in my mind? He was just like L-number-two with his demeaning statements.

Wait a minute…

L…number…two….

It made sense… but it didn't…

The way the kid talked was all too familiar. The tone of voice he used wasn't all that common. But, really, a kid? _This kid_ had a mind at least twenty times better than mine, and probably wasn't even done with the eighth grade. And L set him in charge of entertaining me? Was this some kind of joke?

"You're L-number-two, aren't you?" I scowled.

"That is the nickname you gave me, yes. Of course, that is not my real name."

"Well duh, but there's no way I could guess your _real _name. But, to me, you look like a Jacob. Is your name Jacob?"

"No, and even if it was I would not tell you the truth." He said blankly. "Back to what we were talking about, Yukio Chi; do _you_ know Beyond Birthday's side of the story?"

My tongue froze for a moment. Did I know Beyond's side of the story? Not really…

"I certainly know more than you, kid." I sneered, trying to take advantage of the age difference.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I doubt you know much about Beyond Birthday at all."

My lips fell into a strict line and my eyes narrowed. I wasn't in the mood to argue with someone with an IQ that could make mine look miniscule. "Look, I'm not saying that I'm some kind of Beyond Birthday genius – I'm not even a fan girl of him – but you haven't even spoken to the guy. You don't know what he thinks or feels. You only see him as some kind of heartless, demoralized killer." I shook my head slowly. "That's not true. Not from what I've seen of him."

"You claim to know some kind of 'better' side of him. What kind of evidence do you have to support that?"

"Oh, you want evidence? Then give me some. Show me proof that he is a cruel, horrible person." I snarled. "Go on. Show me."

The boy gave me a stare of anger. Although his face was mainly emotionless, there was still a blaze behind his eyes.

"You don't _have_ evidence, do you?" I accused. "I bet that bugs you. Does it bug you? It does, doesn't it?" His body was slowly stiffening. I almost wanted to squeal. I was actually doing a pretty good job at this.

His lips were drawn in a thin line for a while until he spoke. "We have records of his kills."

"That won't help you any. Perhaps he was intoxicated or something. Or he could've possibly been possessed by something, like a Shinigami."

The boy frowned. "Such things do not exist."

"Or do they? You never know what the human eye can't see."

"That is incorrect. We know that there are many different spectrums of light the human eye is unable to focus on. We know that there are invisible gamma rays. Our eyes cannot see radiation, yet we know it exists. And things such as atoms and molecules exist, yet are too small for our eyes to see without the help of a powerful microscope."

I sighed. "You little smartass." I muttered.

"Yukio!" My mother scolded sharply at my language.

I immediately winced and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, it slipped."

She was scowling at me, but didn't say another word. I was thankful that I didn't get slapped for the foul language. My mom wasn't keen on anyone saying inappropriate words.

When I looked back at the boy, he was smirking ever so slightly. Mocking me. "Oh shut up." I grumbled. "Don't you dare tell me that your parents approve of that kind of language."

I noticed a brief look of shock or hurt cross over his pale face, but he quickly covered it up like it never happened. "My parents died a long time ago. Either way, I do not use vulgar language even if there is nobody to insult with it."

I blinked, my mouth agape. His parents were both dead? He didn't even look all that depressed. I was already having a silent battle with waves of depression that hit every once and a while, and that was only one parent that was killed. But this boy was young, and quite innocent looking I had to admit. How did he cope with it?

"I…I'm sorry…" I admitted, feeling my entire body lose a breath of anger. I didn't understand why that little fact changed my entire perspective of him all at once, but it did. It was that small connection that sparked in my mind that brought out a sliver of sympathy in me.

He appeared more confused than anything. "I don't understand. Just a moment ago you seemed almost repulsed by me."

I opened my mouth, but it only hung open with no sound coming out. It took some time for me to figure out what to say to him. "I never said I was repulsed by you…" I muttered under my breath, looking down at my feet. "You're just… unintentionally rude, that's all."

"I see." He spoke quietly, still with no emotion in his dull voice. "Very well. You are free to leave whenever you wish."

I looked up to watch him walking away, his back turned towards me. Had I actually insulted him?

A whip of guilt struck me. It bubbled in my chest, boiling and waiting to haunt me as I tried to sleep.

"Come on, Yukio. Let's go home." My mom insisted from behind me.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, which not only startled me, but also gave me an excuse to move.

"Hold on! L-number-two, no, Jacob, erm… whatever the heck your name is! Wait!" I called out, running forwards. The boy stopped and turned halfway around, staring at me blankly.

"Yes?"

I came a stop a few feet away from him. "I'm sorry." I bowed my head shamefully. I was sure I heard my mom actually gasp. A sincere apology was a rare thing to come out of my mouth, especially to a stranger.

"Why?" He questioned.

"I thought I… hurt your feelings." The words stumbled in my mouth for a moment, as I was hit with confusion.

"No, not at all. I just have things to do." He explained.

I felt the weight of guilt, which had already settled on my shoulders, slide off. "Oh, okay, that's good." I grinned, relieved that he wasn't mad. "See you later, then." I waved a hand and walked back to my mother.

She had a curious look on her face when she asked me, "What was that all about?"

I shrugged. "I don't cope well with guilt. Sometimes it's the smallest things that bug me."

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

He had no idea how long it had been since he heard from L, but when the speaker finally crackled to life, it felt like it had been hours. But there was no clock in the room, which left him only with rough estimates.

"_Are you ready to cooperate, BB?"_

He smirked. "I've cooperated this entire time. Did you heard one single complaint come from my mouth?"

"_Last time you weren't giving straight answers."_

Beyond groaned and let his head droop forwards. "I'm telling you the truth. _I don't have a reason._" Beyond knew he was getting ticked at L. The guy wouldn't just settle with an unanswered question, and it was really beginning to get annoying.

"_Fine then, let's move on and come back to that. I have a different question to ask, though; if we were to let you roam free, then what would you do with your freedom?"_

Beyond stared at the floor in front of him in deep though. "I don't know yet. When I was a kid, I never wanted to grow up and become something big like everyone else. I never had a real goal to accomplish. To tell the truth, L," He lifted his head to stare directly into the camera from across the room. "The only goal I've ever had was to give you a case you couldn't solve. But now I see that really isn't possible." Pieces of his hair fell out of place to swoop over his eyes as he narrowed his gaze sharply. "So really, I'm just wasting oxygen."

L was silent for a moment, possibly to think over Beyond's words. "_Would you go back to your old ways?"_

"No." Beyond answered immediately with a voice that almost sounded remorseful. He didn't purposely do that, but it just sort of slipped off of his tongue.

"_Why not? I thought that you were planning to kill Yukio Chi when you first met."_

At first, Beyond didn't know how he knew that, but then it became apparent that L had probably questioned Yuki-Chan earlier. Beyond was almost mad at himself for not figuring that out sooner.

"Yeah, that was my intention at the beginning. But then there were interruptions, and I guess I just lost the mood."

"_I remember you telling me that you killed because your victims were destined to die soon. And you claimed that you knew this because of your eyes. They were the eyes of a Shinigami, correct?"_

"Yes, but I knew you wouldn't believe me. Even I didn't believe it for some time. Why are you asking?"

"_Is Yukio Chi supposed to die soon?"_ L continued without even answering Beyond's question. Beyond assumed that was what would happen, but it was worth asking anyway.

Beyond got the strangest chill at L's words. It was like his spine was going stiff for no reason. Beyond did his best to ignore the feeling and continue without any kind of hesitation. "Not soon enough for me to kill her, no."

"_Then why was she going to be your victim?"_

"After being locked up in some asylum for what felt like an eternity, I thought that I wanted nothing but gallons of blood to be spilt all over. I didn't care if she wasn't going to die soon. First I was going to end her life, and then I was going to end the craving I had for strawberry jam."

_"In the end you did kill someone, and you also got a taste of jam. Correct?"_

"Yeah. Sure, I didn't kill the intended victim, but I didn't have anything against her that made me want to kill her and only her. Really just the feeling of taking a life was all I needed."

"_Do you regret anything you've done in the past?"_

He sighed. "No, I don't."

* * *

**Yay, another chapter! I can't say this one was hard to write, I just didn't have much free time these past weeks. Oh well, it's here now.**

**What did you think of it? I know nothing much really happened, but I did introduce Near, which only means one thing; The three Wammy House boys are sure to come soon! I love those three so much that I just can't leave them out. So, you should expect to see them in future chapters. :)**

**Comments and critique are both very appreciated. Like, seriously, you guys gave me a total of 33 reviews for a whopping _six chapters_? It really shocks me how many people like this story. So, in exchange, I give you long chapters. This is six/almost-seven. Thousand. Words. I'm not usually proud of myself, but hey, you guys make this stuff fun for me, so why not push myself to make it enjoyable for you guys to read, too?  
**

**Thanks for reading this, you guys. It makes me eager to check all the time just to see the view count. I love all of you guys :D**

**~BurntPickle**


	8. Kidnapped

**I don't own Death Note :)**

* * *

I chewed my nails as I lied awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling fan that went around… and around… and around… It was quite hypnotizing, but it wasn't enough to get me to fall asleep. I didn't think I could fall in the 'Bored' category after staring at it for two hours, but maybe instead I should've been classified in the 'Needs Extreme Mental Help' folder.

Why? I couldn't stop thinking about Beyond, that's why. I had reluctantly gone home with no information as to the psycho's status. Why was I even worried about him, anyway? Was he really worth ruining my fingernails over? I didn't have any kind of amazing manicure, so I wasn't incredibly devastated, but my fingertips were a little sensitive now.

I groaned loudly and pressed a cold pillow into my face. It didn't help at all, but at least I had something to squeeze and relieve any kind of stress in my arms and shoulders. I hated not knowing. There were too many possibilities. Could he be dead? Being tortured? Already scheduled for execution? Or he could've been in the asylum by now, just sitting there ready to rot.

I kicked my legs wildly, trying my best to shake the worry from me, but it was deep inside my chest, unable to escape. No matter how sore my eyes were getting, I wasn't getting a lick of sleep. I could shut my eyes all I wanted, but then my mind would fill up with gruesome pictures of those endless possibilities. So I'd open my eyes again, not wanting to think about what might've been happening to him, and I'd stare up at the ceiling.

An even louder groan gargled in my throat as I flipped myself over and smashed my face into the mattress. The sheets were tangled around my ankles, restricting my movement, and there were multiple pillows thrown across the room.

If it wasn't obvious by now, I would make a terrible insomniac. Or maybe a perfect one. Depending on how you looked at it.

I glared at the clock again. Even though I had checked it, like, ten minutes ago, time had only moved by four minutes. How odd.

I threw myself up into a sitting position. The mess of hair on my head was more like a mop than anything. It hung all over my head in messy clump from all of the tossing and turning I had done recently.

I leaned across my bed and groped for the string of my lamp. Once I grasped it, I pulled on it to turn the light on, which only resulted in my eyes starting to throb from the sudden, expected but unprepared light. I winced and shut my eyes and guarded them with a hand, and then slowly squinted them open to give my eyes a little time to adjust.

I knew there was no point in lying awake, begging for my body to let me sleep. I would just have to accept the fact that it wasn't happening. I forced myself up and swung my legs over the side of my bed so that my toes brushed against the carpet. I placed my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands, taking slow, deep breaths. I had never been so fatigued in my life, and I still had an entire night to get through.

Then, suddenly, my phone began ringing. I lifted my head to glower at the damn thing that was all the way across the room. I had a small room with nothing more than a bed, nightstand, closet, dresser, and a desk, but still, getting the phone would require actually standing up. But my ringtone was quite loud, and I didn't want to wake my mother, who was probably dead asleep. Unlike me, she could sleep when under stress. I, however, apparently could not.

I forced myself to my feet and padded my way to my phone, which I swiped away from the charger and snapped open to press to my ear, not even bothering to check the caller ID. "Hello?" I muttered in a grouchy voice, making sure that it was clear I was not happy to be awake at the ungodly hour that I was.

_"Chi, I believe your mother would appreciate if we didn't ring the doorbell, or knock the door down right now."_ The familiar modified voice cracked through the cruddy speaker of my phone.

I could feel the blood draining from my face, and my spine went stiff. I stared directly forwards at the wall, my jaw slack.

"Huh?" Was all I could manage to say. How did he…? How? _What?_

_"Must I repeat myself?" _The man whom I was sure was titled L questioned, not sounding very patient.

"Why do we have to do this in the middle of the freaking night?" I hissed, not even really knowing what he wanted in the first place. "Can't this wait until tomorrow morning?"

"_I have officers stationed all around your house and others at your door that won't hesitate to make this difficult situation easy for us. It would be a shame if we had to set this all up tomorrow."_

I groaned and rubbed my face with my freehand. "Fine, calm your tits and give me a minute. At least let me get a bra on."

L was silent after that. I probably was a little too open about that little piece of information. Of course, I didn't mind, since it was funny to know that I possibly shut the detective up.

I set the phone down and I did as I said I would. Being only dressed in my hot pink pajama shorts and a black tank-top, it was clear that I wasn't expecting any kind of company.

I left the phone and quietly crept out of my room. I placed my feet down on the boards that I knew weren't as squeaky as the rest. I was in no rush to get to the door, mostly to just piss L off and make him even more impatient, so I even took a nice midnight stroll to the kitchen and snatched a cupcake off of the counter. As I walked to the door, I casually peeled away the paper wrapping and began licking some of the strawberry flavored frosting off.

It took longer than necessary for me to finally reach the door and unlock it, but I didn't care.

As soon as I turned the lock and opened the door to peer outside at our visitors, the door was thrown open and I was shoved backwards. I stumbled aside and fell against a nearby wall, nearly dropping my cupcake in the meantime.

Men who were dressed from head to toe in black, who were also each decked out in an impressive number of weapons, rushed inside without even saying hello. I guessed that about twelve men piled into my house, and were now rummaging through my living room.

"Hey!" I barked, trying to get their attention as they tore apart my house. They were throwing the cushions of the couch around, searching through the bookshelves, and two of them were even taking apart our TV! "_Hey!"_ I demanded again. "What the heck do you think you're doing?"

Suddenly a tall, slender figure appeared in the door. I stood there, staring at it until it walked through.

It was a guy. He wasn't built like the others, but was instead thin and scrawny looking. He had long golden straight hair that fell all the way to his shoulders, which for a guy was pretty impressive, especially since it looked like he took time out of his day to straighten it. He had a stern expression on his face, and smaller pupils than normal. He was dressed in a black leather vest and matching pants to go with, and he clearly wasn't ashamed of the gun that was tucked in the waistband. He didn't look to be any older than fourteen, which meant that he was younger than me, but _he_ was allowed to carry a gun. Why didn't Mom ever get _me_ one?

"Hurry up, men. No wasting time." He commanded, supervising what was happening.

"Excuse me," I marched up in front of him and poked a finger into his chest. I was an inch taller than him from the looks of it, and I wasn't even wearing shoes. I had to force my lips to not smirk at that little fact. "What is going on here?" I waved my other arm around behind me to make a large gesture of whatever was going on in my living room.

"Nothing major; just a quick search of your household."

"What? _Why_?" I squeaked.

"According to L, Beyond Birthday was here. We're just checking for any leftover evidence that you might've failed to mention." His eyes flicked down for a brief moment, looking at the cupcake in my hand. He didn't ask any questions, but instead just turned his shoulder towards me to get a better angle at the scene. "Hey, you two, stop slacking!" He barked.

"What kind of evidence could you be looking for?! A dead body?!"

"It's possible," He answered, not looking at me. "It's not unheard of for killers to store their victims in someone's house."

"What makes you think I would let that happen?!" I demanded, stomping my foot for emphasis.

"Yukio? What's going on?" I turned around to see my mother emerging from her room, looking around wide-eyed. She was a mint green nightgown that fell all the way to her knees. "Who are all these people?"

I was at loss for words. I didn't really know what was going on at all. So, for an answer, I just shrugged and shook my head.

"Sorry for the intrusion, ma'am, we're just doing a quick search of your home for anything suspicious." The boy said, almost politely, as he flicked his gaze back to my mother briefly. I was a little offended with the way he treated my mom compared to me, but I did my best to not show it on my face. But I allowed myself to glare at him, since he and his men _did_ barge in without permission from _moi_.

Some men started to head further into the house. By the looks of it, they were going towards the kitchen. Well, two of them jogged up the stairs, probably to investigate my bedroom or something.

"Who is in charge of this?" My mother asked. I noticed how calm she was compared to me. I was over here about ready to make heads roll, while my mom was actually being an adult about this and thinking things through. I, however, was not ashamed. People were tearing my house apart for crying out loud! How could someone expect me to let that happen?

"The order was issued by L himself, ma'am." He answered, sounding a little proud of himself for whatever reason.

"Sir, we've found something!" The three of us looked up the stairs to see a man dangling my laptop carelessly as he peeked his head out the door. "Birthday's fingerprints are on this. Along with traces of strawberry jam."

The boy nodded and waved a hand for the man to bring my laptop here. The man came down the stairs and handed over my laptop, which the boy proceeded to open and turn on the device.

The screen began to glow. He pushed a few buttons, but then it came to the password screen.

"Let's make this easy; what's your password?"

I smirked. "Not telling."

He sighed in exasperation. "I should've expected that from you. But fine, I can always have Matt crack the code anyway."

"Matt? Who's Matt?"

He shot me a glare. "Not telling."

"Oh. Oh, fine, I get it. I mean, you're only, what, fourteen? I understand why you want to be immature."

"I'm the immature one?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow underneath his golden hair. His words sounded like something that would come out Beyond's mouth, but the tone of his voice wasn't as sardonic and relaxed as Beyond's. "You look like you're sixteen. Shouldn't you know by now that withholding information from L's specifically selected task force isn't smart?"

"Bragging gets you nowhere, little boy. Just because you're L's_ dog_ doesn't give you some sort of power."

"But that does privilege me to confiscate this." He closed my laptop and turned, and began walking out the door.

"No!" I cried, lunging forwards. I reached around him by pressing my chest against his back and groping for my laptop from either side of him, my fingers splayed out. "Give it back you asshole!" He only responded by holding it out further in front of him, out of my reach.

"Yukio!" My mom scolded.

"_Oh my God_, Mom," I rolled my chin to give her a 'you're-kidding-me' look. "_I'm sorry_." I replied in monotone. I then tried one side of him to attempt to get my laptop back, but he only held it off to the opposite side, which I then moved towards, but he just switched sides. This continued for a good minute or two before I finally gave up, reluctantly of course.

He smirked in success. "Confiscated."

L's dog should've melted by now with the glare I was giving him, but he stood strong, which was impressive, considering my laptop was my favorite possession. Anyone who tried to take it away from me was just asking to live a future of hell.

"If you even get_ finger smudges_ on the screen of my baby, you will lose an eye." I warned. "Don't think I'm joking."

He chuckled. "Sure you will."

I almost cried as he took my baby away from me. In fact, I did fall to my knees, glowering hopelessly at his back as he walked away. I wasn't nervous about what he would find, since I didn't search anything bad on my computer, but it was one of the few sources of entertainment that I actually _liked._ Which meant L's dog just ordered me a plate of boredom with some worry on the side, and even some anger to drink.

Slowly the men started to trickle out, some of them carrying various objects. One man had the two remaining jars of strawberry jam that were left in the fridge. Another was taking (aka: eating) an apple. And another guy had a plate covered in the cupcakes. All of them, it looked like.

"Wait a minute," I stopped Cupcake guy before he left. "Why are you taking those?"

"You said yourself that Beyond Birthday made these."

"Yeah, so?"

"We're taking them in as… evidence." He glanced around nervously.

A terrible liar, I must say.

I pursed my lips, gritted my teeth, and then snatched the plate away. He gasped and held out his hands to take the plate back, but I only shoved one of the cupcakes (specifically the one with the least frosting on it) into his grasp. "If you wanted one, you just could've asked. There's your evidence, now," I balanced the plate on one hand and turned him around with the other. "Go." I commanded with a little push to his back. He walked out quietly.

With a sigh I turned to look at all of the wreckage. The living room was a disaster, and I didn't even want to imagine what the kitchen and my room looked like. Judging by how many people came out of those two room sin particular, it was safe to assume they had been searching the most, and probably very thoroughly.

"Hey, Mom," I looked at her. "Do I still have to clean my room now?"

"Yes." She replied sternly.

"But Mom! I didn't even make the mess!" I whined.

"Too bad."

* * *

Don't ask me how I managed to find my bed earlier in the mess they had created, but I did. I hadn't even realized I had gone to sleep until my phone woke me up.

The Evanescence song, Going Under, played. It was my ringtone set for when someone was calling me.

Groggily I rolled off of my bed, crumbling to the ground instantly. It took me a few moments of mental encouragement to push myself up and drag my feet across the room to grab my phone off of my dresser and press it against my ear. My eyes were barely even open during all of this.

"What the hell do you want?" I grumbled.

"_Jeez, girl, that was harsh!"_ Akira yelped.

I groaned and rubbed my face. I was sure it was an attractive sight. "Sorry Akira, but when someone wakes me up at three A.M, or whatever the damn time is, I'm not exactly happy."

"_Uh… Yukio… it's eleven-thirty."_

I was silent for a moment as I slid my eyes sideways to the window. Sure enough, sunlight was peeking through the blinds. "We don't have school today, right?"

"_It's Saturday. Of course we don't have school."_

"Of course."

"_So… Guess what?"_

"Hmm?"

_"I called Light and asked if he wanted to have coffee with me sometime… And he said yes!"_ Akira did a little fangirl squeal that pierced through the speaker of the phone.

"Really?" I laughed happily, genuinely glad for Akira. I felt my mood lightening for the guy. "That's awesome, dude!"

"_I know,"_ He said, sounding relieved. "_I can't believe it."_

"Do you even know if he's gay or not?"

"_No, I don't. If he's not, then… that's really going to suck."_

"Yeah, totally."

"_Say, what's Beyond up to right now?"_

"Eh, you know, the usual. Right now I think he's behind bars or something."

_"What?!"_

"Yeah, turns out L is smarter than I thought. Last I saw Beyond, he was being shoved into the back of a truck with handcuffs around his wrists." I was troubled with the sudden pang of sadness that struck me. Did I miss him? I didn't think so. Sure, he was… interesting… to have around, but it's not like I invited him into my life.

Still…

"_Are you okay?"_

"If your definition of 'okay' is being in the state of an emotional confusion mixed of anger, sadness, hatred, relief, and cluelessness, then yeah, I'm doing fine."

I could hear Akira sighing from the other end. "_Get dressed."_

"Why?"

"_We're going shopping_."

* * *

"Get it." Akira ordered, looking me up and down the moment I stepped out of the dressing room.

I frowned and looked down at the outfit my gay friend had picked out for me. It consisted of a pair of black shorts my mother would never approve of, with a light grey t-shirt that had a large floppy hood hanging on the back of it for whatever reason. Two white strings dangled from the neck of it to tighten the hood if wanted.

"Why?" I asked, holding out my arms to look at my hips. I wasn't some awesome model with a rocking body, but I still was curious as to how they looked from my perspective.

"Because this is the third outfit you've tried on, and the first two you claimed to hate. This one not only looks good on you, but it's basic, and I can tell you like it."

Okay, so I liked it a _little_ bit. Only because it was monochrome, which I liked to wear for some reason. The neck of the t-shirt/hoodie was a little too low for my liking, and the shorts ended a little too high, but judging by how Akira had his arms folded across his chest with a no-discussion look on his face, I knew that there wasn't much I'd be able to do except burn the building down to get out of buying these.

"Fine, but if I'm getting something, so are you." I snapped my fingers. "For your little coffee date with Light! You need something nice and fresh to wear to that."

His eyes widened. "No. That would look like I was trying to impress him. Which I am, but I don't want to make it _look like I am._ Because then he might think I'm trying too hard, and then he'd probably instantly figure out that I sorta-kinda like him, and I don't want to scare him off or something. That would just ruin everything."

"Sheesh. I never knew love was such a complicated thing." I muttered, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Love? Oh, Yukio, _this_ is _not_ love at all. You shouldn't use such a word so loosely. This is simply the action of capturing someone's interest."

"Again, I never knew love was such a complicated thing. Like, really, why can't it be easy? You should just be able to point at someone, say you like them, and then they nod and you live happily ever after. Wouldn't that make everything, like, eleven times easier?"

"Yeah, it really would, but what's the fun in that? It has to be a challenge, or in the end you might realize that you never really had a true interest in them." He suddenly started to smile, and eased over to me and rested an arm on my shoulder. "Speaking of which, Yukio, do _you_ like anyone?" He asked in a suggestive tone.

I shook my head immediately. "Nope. You know how I recently broke up with Blake. My like-o-meter isn't working at the moment."

"Yeah, I remember that. You never seemed incredibly upset, though. I thought you would be, since he did cheat on you and all."

I shrugged. "I certainly wasn't happy about it, but I wasn't devastated. He was an idiot. I was thinking of breaking up with him anyway."

"Really?" Akira gasped. "And you never told me this?"

I winced. "Yeah... It's just that you and Blake seemed to get along quite well. I was afraid you'd be mad at me."

"Now, honey," He shook his head with his eyes closed and a frown painting his face. "Blake may have been nice company, but his presence wasn't worth it. Really I was sick of him myself. He was _such_ a pervert."

I nodded slowly in agreement. "Amen. I would say something like, "This grape is huge," and he'd be all like, "That's what she said,"." I lowered my voice to try to match Blake's. It didn't sound like him, but I knew Akira got the point. "I hate perverts."

"Do you now?"

I jumped at the same time Akira did. We both looked over to see a tall man with a dirty looking face. He had broad shoulders, and had one hand planted on the wall and he was leaning into it. He had small brown eyes, and sunglasses on his head. The man wasn't wearing anything nice, just a basic shirt and jeans with an old jacket. To tell the truth, he looked like he just walked in off a long day working on the street market.

"Who are you?" I asked, raising a disgusted eyebrow.

He laughed, showing off his yellow teeth. He was missing one front tooth, too, probably from lack of good hygiene. "Who are _you_?" He asked with a purr.

I exchanged a worried glance with Akira. I didn't like this man already, and it was obvious my best friend didn't either. We both took a step back to distance ourselves from him.

"Why does it matter to you?" Akira asked as bravely as he could, but his voice wavered slightly.

The man had his eyes focused on me more than Akira. It felt like he was basically undressing me with his eyes. _Eww…_

"Listen, I don't want to cause a scene or anything, so why don't we make this easier on us all?" He pushed the side of his jacket back to expose a gun tucked into his waist, much like L's dog had last night. "You two can come with me, or you can come with me with some holes in your body. Works for me either way."

I scowled. "There is no way in hell that we're going anywhere with someone like you." I hissed, and quickly glanced over my shoulder. Why did we have to go into the dressing room hall with no one else in it? Seriously, was it just my bad luck or something?

"That's a shame, really. I was hoping to make this easier."

Before we could react, he ripped out his gun and fired at me.

But I never felt the pain.

I saw the blood splattering to the floor, but I never felt the pain.

I could see an arm splaying out around me, but it didn't belong to me.

The arm belonged to a person very special to me.

The arm belong to Akira, who lingered in the air before slumping forwards and crumbling to his knees before me.

I let out a terrified scream and dropped beside him, taking his head in my heads and cradling it in my lap.

"No…" I whispered, tears building in my eyes. Blood was seeping from his gut and onto the floor. I pressed my hand to his wound to try and stop the bleeding, not that I could, but it only resulted in my hand turning a deep red. "No… not you too…"

The man laughed cruelly before reaching down and taking my arm in his large hand. I struggled to escape from his grasp, but with the shock and pain that was swallowing me whole, it was difficult to fight the numbness that was filling me.

He tore me away from Akira, still laughing as he did so. With every step he had to jerk me to keep me moving with him, which was towards the exit of the dressing rooms.

"No! Akira!" I sobbed, not able to stop staring at my friend, who wasn't moving, but only lying there in a bloody mess. "Please live! PLEASE!"

"Shut up, bitch." The man snarled before pulling a dirty rag, which looked to be once white, from his pocket. It looked damp, but I didn't realize it was dunked in chloroform until it was pressed to my nose. I couldn't help but breathe it in, even though it burned my nostrils and the back of my throat. I screamed and thrashed around, and I put the most effort I had ever gathered into trying to go back towards Akira. I wouldn't leave him as long as I could fight.

But I could feel my consciousness slowly fading away. My thoughts were starting to blur together, and my vision was blotchy.

Finally my legs gave out. It took a good minute or two. I could hear others screaming and wailing, but I didn't know why. I was the one who should've been crying, and trust me, I knew I was. The wet rag wasn't the only thing that was dampening my cheeks.

I gasped for a breath, but my lungs felt tight. It was hard to breathe with a frayed rag pressed against my mouth and nose. Without my permission my body was beginning to go slack. I fought to keep my eyes open, but I knew the chloroform was winning the fight. I couldn't do much except… stop…

* * *

** Beyond's POV**

* * *

They had yet to do a lot to him. Move him. Feed him. Acknowledge him. Release him. It had been hours since he last spoke to L, and Beyond was still stuck in that same straightjacket, leaned back against the wall. He had long since passed being bored. No, Beyond was not bored, but instead the nearest definition to being dead.

The thing about not moving a broken arm after it had been pressed to your body by force for hours, is that it really started to hurt after a certain amount of time. It was a strange tingling feeling, but Beyond didn't like it. I felt like his hand was asleep and throbbing in pain at the same time.

He was thinking about calling out to whoever was watching the screen, most likely L, but the small amount of pride he as holding onto refused to let him do so.

For the past hour – give or take about ten minutes – he had been trying to think about anything that couldn't lead back to Yuki-Chan and her mother. But in the end, their faces continued to pop into his mind. He didn't understand why, and that frustrated him beyond his imagination (pun not intended).

What had happened to them? He was left without closure, and they were both most likely given the same result. He didn't expect to get any kind of answer from L if he asked, so why bother? It would only give L a hint as to what he was thinking about.

Beyond shifted his weight out of the position that had once been comfortable, but now was not. It was hard to move without the usage of arms, but he was used to getting around without them. In fact, he had gone without them for so long that he probably wouldn't even be affected if they were both amputated and he was left on his own to figure life out. Over time, he had developed amazing coordination in his legs and feet.

Beyond sighed and closed his eyes. Something didn't exactly feel right. He had felt this feeling for some time now, but didn't care to think about it or try to figure out the cause. But now, with no thoughts left, he had no other choice unless he wanted to think about Yuki-Chan and her mother, which was a topic he didn't dare explore.

Still, this feeling inside of him made him uneasy. He felt fretful all of the sudden, like something bad was happening that he couldn't control. He had never felt such a way before, seems how he was usually the one causing the bad situation. But this feeling was one that he knew would keep him awake, if he even tried to sleep, that is. Beyond didn't deem sleep very useful to himself, but instead saw it as a mere waste of time.

He opened his eyes again and glared at the camera across the room. What was the point in keeping him here? He was incredibly thirsty, for one thing. But more than anything he wanted out of this room. The sunlight had felt incredible on his impossibly pale skin, and he wanted to feel that again.

However, there was one thing he needed more than sunlight. And that was information. Just something to tell him that the two that continued to appear in his mind were not dead or in danger. That would at least calm his nerves slightly.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

I woke up in the freezing cold room. The chill hit me the moment I regained consciousness.

My mind was foggy, and I was dizzy, too. I could tell that my arms were spread apart and hung above me, and judging by the cold metal that was digging into my palms and wrists, I was most likely dangling from some chains. My feet were touching the ground, and my back was pressed against something solid and cold.

I cracked my eyes open reluctantly to look around. It was too dark to see much, but I really wanted the lights on. I had to know what was around me or else I was going to freak out even more than I already was.

Akira… where was he?

Oh, yeah…

He got shot…

…

Shit.

I let my head dip down in defeat. I was chain – yes, _chained_ – to a wall with no obvious escape. All I could do is hang there and hope that Akira was okay.

I licked my lips nervously and blew a breath out of my mouth. This reminded me a lot of the interrogation I went through. Except for the fact that I got to play games with L-number-two, and my life wasn't in significant danger. Now, however, I had no idea what was going to happen to me. I was more worried about Akira, though. He saved my life.

I let those words sink in for a moment.

My best friend, Akira, saved my life by stepping in front of me to take a bullet.

Dammit, that boy either deserves to go to a nice resort in heaven, or flat out live with great luck for the rest of his life. I owed him big time, if I ever saw him again.

The thought of him gave me more strength. If I died here, his sacrifice would be wasted.

Suddenly the room brightened. I slammed my unprepared eyes shut and gritted my teeth together, hesitant to open them again. When I finally did, and was able to get them to adjust to the light, I wasn't exactly thrilled with what I awoke to see.

Other women, the majority of them stripped of all clothing to reveal huge bruises on their bodies, were hung on the walls like I was. A few of them looked worse than dead. Large scars ran all over their bodies in various places. One woman was missing both her eyes, and was wagging her head in confusion, as if she didn't know her eyes were gone.

I knew what I was seeing I'd never forget. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't stop looking. I counted at least twenty women of different ages. The youngest looking to be no older than thirteen, and the oldest was probably twenty-seven or something.

The girl next to me was heavily pregnant. She looked young, maybe fifteen or so, but she wasn't in good condition at all. Parts of her skin were discolored from the amount of bruises that were smothered across his skin. She was incredibly skinny, but so were the others. When she noticed that I was watching her, she looked over with a pair of gorgeous crystal blue eyes that met mine immediately.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

Her beautiful eyes widened with shock, and she shook her head vigorously. I frowned, but didn't ask any other questions.

Slowly a door was opened, making a long squeal as it did. Three large silhouettes stood in the doorway, casting long shadows into the room. I looked like we were in some kind of old barn or something. The floor was littered in straw, and the walls were a thick, dark colored wood. It was a high ceiling, too, that came to a point.

"Well, well," One of the figures stepped forwards. I recognized him instantly once his face was illuminated. It was the man who shot Akira. Rage bubbled up inside of me immediately. "You have a new friend, girls." He purred and made a large gesture towards me with his palm. "Do try and make her feel welcome."

* * *

**Okay, hold on, don't be mad at me! Wait, wait, WAIT! Now, take a deep breath... and realize that this chapter is super early and you should actually love me for it! Sure, the contents within the update may not be something you like, but it has it's reason. First of all: Fluff. It will come eventually, but bad things must happen, right?**

**Still trying to decide what should happen to Yukio, and Beyond too, even though they're in two different situations. I'm open to suggestions.**

**I promise next chapter will have some Yukio and Beyond together in it... I think...  
**

**~BurntPickle**


	9. Countless Possibilities

**I don't own Death Note**

**Thank you Camisado for your awesome ideas! I have decided to use at least some of them (it's probably extremely obvious in the L's POV part). I absolutely loved the complexity of it all!**

* * *

My hands had long since gone numb. I couldn't even feel my fingers anymore. Someone could cut them off and I probably wouldn't even notice.

I was incredibly hungry. Other than that cupcake, I hadn't eaten anything ever since that sandwich Watari brought me. I was thirsty, too. Yet I still had to pee.

If it wasn't obvious, I was not having a good time.

I assumed it had been an hour ago when that the man had unchained one woman and dragged her away. I had wanted to help her, and fight against the man, but I was stuck to the wall. I hadn't seen that woman since.

In the meantime, I managed to share whispers with the pregnant girl beside me. Her name was Alice, apparently, and according to what I could hear out of her weak voice, she had been impregnated via rape. She looked to be at least seven months into her pregnancy, which meant she had most likely been here at least that long.

Suddenly the door was swung open. The woman that had been taken was being dragged in by her hair. She was clawing at his wrists, sobbing madly, but her efforts were useless. He enchained her and then scanned the room with a sly smirk on his face, studying each of his hostages carefully. He circled the entire room with his eyes until they fell upon me. His gaze made my spine stiffen on its own, and I could feel the weight of the world fall onto my shoulders immediately.

As he got closer, the panic inside of me began to boil. Alice looked at me with those piercing blue eyes that were full of sympathy, and it was then that I knew this couldn't be good.

He reached forwards and grasped a clump of my hair in his hand tightly, tugging on it harshly. I yelped, and wanted to close my eyes to hide away, but I couldn't help but hold his gaze with my own glare. My stupid pride was going to get me killed one day, no doubt.

He chuckled and dropped one hand to sit on my waist. He drew a circle on my hip with his thumb, toying with the hem of my shirt casually. "I'll drain the life out of you," He muttered. "I've broken even the strongest-willed of girls before."

I pursed my lips together tightly before spitting in his face. A glob of my saliva landed on his cheek, but he did nothing to remove it. It just sat there, glistening in the light.

He laughed again. "So feisty, I must say."

"Shut up." I snarled.

He grinned and began brushing his hand underneath my shirt, lightly dancing his fingers along the skin of my stomach. It sent uncomfortable shudders down my spine. I wanted to get away from him, but there was nowhere for me to go.

_Kira…_ That named echoed in my mind. Kira killed criminals, right? So why couldn't he just kill this man and save our lives? I was never one to look up to Kira or even agree with his ways, but right now, I needed someone to get me out of here. Anyone. Heck, I wouldn't even mind if L himself and L-number-two, with their belittling words, came to get me. I would probably kiss them on the cheeks with glee, too.

His hand covered lots of space on my stomach. More than enough to make me overly uncomfortable.

"Get your hand… off of me." I growled, glaring him dead in the eye. I wouldn't dare back down. "Now."

"Ooh, I'm so scared." He teased, and only lifted his hand further up until his fingertips could brush against the wire of my bra. "Clearly you scare me _so _much."

If I ever saw Beyond again, could I bribe him with strawberry jam to kill this guy for me? Preferably in the most gruesome, painful way? He deserved it.

His other hand, the one that still help my hair, finally released the strands and dropped to caress my cheek. My entire body went stiff and rigid, but before I could even think out my next move, I jerked my head to the side and bit down as hard as I could on his finger, digging my canine teeth deep into the skin. I knew I pierced the flesh almost immediately when the coppery taste of blood slipped onto my tongue.

He hissed and jerked his hand out of my mouth. His skin tasted disgusting, like he hadn't washed his hands in a long time. The man examined his wound carefully for a moment, and then brought his palm down and across my cheek, snapping my head to the side. I held it there, letting the sting linger on my face. It hurt, but at the same time the feeling made even more anger and strength boil inside of me. There was no way he was going to break me. No. Fucking. Way. Not at this pace.

I smirked. "Is that all you got?"

I knew I shouldn't have taunted him as soon as he drew a knife from his pocket. It was a large, heavy looking blade. He removed his hand from my body, thankfully, but as soon as he did, he slashed the knife across my face right where he had slapped it, which immediately drew a deep line in my face for blood of my own to seep out of.

It hurt a lot, to tell the truth. I had to grit my teeth together tightly to keep from crying out.

"How's that?" He questioned, bringing the tip of the blade underneath my chin.

_Well, this is familiar,_ I thought to myself. _Hasn't Beyond done something similar before? Dang, at least I could fight back then. Now I'm just sitting here with no defense except for my words._

"Well?" He hissed after I hadn't given an instant answer to his question.

I waited just a few more seconds before responding. "It didn't change my opinion of you, if that's what you were looking for. You're still a son of a bitch."

He scowled at me and prodded at my skin further with the knife. It was close to cutting into me. "Is that so?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Has no one ever told you that? Well, sorry to break this to you, but welcome to reality; where, really, nobody likes you and just tolerates you so you shut up."

He sneered and traced an invisible line down my throat to the space in between my boobs with the tip of the knife. "You know, you're quite cocky for a girl at knifepoint."

"Yeah, I am, aren't I? Beyond would be proud." I said smugly.

He looked confused all of the sudden. "What?"

I shook my head dismissingly. "Never mind, it's a long story."

He just shrugged and moved on like it never happened.

The cut on my cheek burned. I wanted to at least wipe off the blood that I knew had already dripped down to my chin. It was all warm and sticky on my cheek, and I didn't like it. Even though it was incredibly cold down here for whatever reason, the warmth of my own blood wasn't as comforting as you'd think it to be.

"I love that look in your eyes…" He mused quietly. "So fierce…"

I narrowed my gaze. "You're such a creep, you know that? Maybe _that's_ why people don't like you."

He laughed harshly as he took a step back, taking the knife with him. His eyes skimmed be over briefly, lingering over certain parts occasionally, if you know what I mean. I was still fully dressed, but I felt like I was being violated just with him looking at me.

"Hey, you, eyes up." I snapped with frown. "If you want boobs, get your own. I'm sure there is a great SRS surgeon somewhere in this city."

The man almost looked amused with my response. His eyes held that interested gleam that I didn't like at all. I was working hard to stay brave and not burst into tears, but man, it was _hard _to stay strong. So much fear and stress was burdening me, and it made me feel that there were weights on my shoulders that I couldn't move.

He strode forwards once against, and with the hand that I bit, he cuffed my chin and brought his face close to mine. I could smell his disgusting breath that reeked of cigars as it invaded my personal space.

"I can't wait to shatter your soul." He whispered to me. "It'll feel so great to watch the life in those eyes of yours just fade away."

My frown deepened into a low, angry scowl. "You're going to have to wait a long time then, buddy."

He snickered, and before I could even figure out what his intentions were, he forced his lips onto mine. I let out a surprised yelp and tried to jerk away, but with his hand capturing my chin, I was basically stuck there with his dry, cold lips on mine. I wasn't kissing him back, but instead just clamping my mouth shut as tight as it could go. I was fighting against him so much that my jaw was beginning to ache by the time he pulled away from me.

With his hand still holding my chin, he stared me straight into the eyes. They had that terrifying lustful look that made me feel sick. Maybe I could throw up on him and he'd leave. That would be a temporary solution. Probably not the best one, but hey, what else can I do?

I sighed quietly and continued to pretend that I wasn't scared. Or, at least, that's how I imagined myself looking. I probably looked like a frightened puppy, though. "Ever heard of a dentist? Now, I'm no professional, but I'd like to recommend to you Crest toothpaste. Or even Colgate if you'd like that kind instead. But the condition of your mouth can't possibly be healthy."

He raised an eyebrow as he lifted to knife to tease at the wound on my cheek. Just touching it made it feel like someone was bringing a lit match to my skin, but I didn't dare cry out. That would just give him a sign that I was actually scared to death.

"Maybe you won't be so cocky when I just flat out remove your tongue," He mused and inched the knife to my lips, where it played around, poking at my mouth. "Wouldn't that just make it easier for us all?"

I turned my head so the knife slid to my other cheek; the one that wasn't still bleeding. "I don't know, probably not. Then I'd just be this annoying, moaning, wordless mess that wouldn't ever shut up. It would probably just be worse for you in the end." I shrugged the best I could.

He sneered. "Oh well." And he slid the knife into my mouth. It was then that I had no idea what to do. If I bit down on it and wrapped my mouth around the blade to try and block it out, he would cut my lips deeply. If I kept my mouth open, there was no way of knowing what he would do. Biting the blade was pointless because he could just move it and cut my lips.

So I just sat there like an idiot, watching him with a sharp glare. I pressed my tongue down towards my jaw as far as it could go until it was so flat that it felt like a normal surface. There was no way in hell that he would take away my ability to talk. No-way-Jose.

"What are you going to say, now?" He taunted, twirling the knife in place so that it teased the suddenly-extra-sensitive skin of my mouth. "Cat got your tongue? Oh, wait, no, it's me!" He laughed gleefully.

I rolled my eyes. _Lame_.

"Now… other than cut out your tongue, what should I do to you?" He asked, or perhaps was just thinking out loud. He poked at the inside of my cheeks with the knife, sending sharp pains when he pushed a little too hard. "I don't want to do anything ordinary to such a spirit like yours. No, it'll take a lot more than just a few beatings to ruin you. The problem is," He removed his hand from my chin to rub his own thoughtfully. "I'm not the most creative person in the world." He looked over to Alice. "What do you think, darling?"

I followed his gaze and locked eyes with Alice for a brief moment, but she just shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"Tell me!" He demanded. Once the soft echo of his booming voice disappeared, it made the room incredibly. Before it was quiet, but now it was like someone just died and the shock was settling in.

"U-uh…" She stuttered nervously, her eyes flitting back and forth from me to the man. "I don't… I don't know…"

He growled and pulled the knife out of my mouth to march over to her, furious. As he glared at the poor girl he raised the blade high above his head.

"Wait!" I cried, stopping him just as he began to throw his hand down.

He slid me an angry curl of his lip, as if he was disgusted with me. "You just don't know when to shut up, do you?"

"No, I don't, but I figured that out a long time ago." I admitted.

He shook his head slowly. "You'll learn not to ever interrupt me soon enough."

I didn't want them to, but his words made my body ache with fear.

I forced myself to narrow my eyes to glare at him. _Stay strong, Yukio._ I encouraged myself. _Don't let your fear show through._

"You don't scare me." I hissed. "You're just some old weird pedophile with creepy intentions. What's so scary about that?"

Alice shot me a shocked and fearful look, with her light blue eyes wide.

I soon knew why she looked so scared.

The man practically flew towards me. I didn't have enough time to realize what he was doing until the knife sliced across my shoulder, splitting the skin on contact. I gasped in pain and clenched my teeth together as I breathed out slowly. The wound burned insanely, and with a quick and reluctant glace, I knew that it was a deep cut.

Tears made my eyes tingle. I blinked hard to try and make them disappear again. It was a difficult task, seems how my shoulder was now throbbing, but after nibbling on my cheek and concentrating on specifically _not_ shedding a tear, they finally decided against pooling onto my cheeks.

"How about now? I know you're scared." He taunted, planting a hand on one side of me while pointing the knife at me again. I started wondering how Beyond's victims had felt when he was about to kill them. How did he kill then, anyway? I hoped that I would get to ask him that someday. Preferably soon.

"Not at all, just pissed." I replied with a wryly smile.

"Is that so? Well then, I guess that just means I'll have to try harder. But, sadly, I have things to do right now. Such a shame I must go already."

"I'll try not to miss you." I replied sarcastically.

He gave me a wink before turning and walking towards the door. With a dramatic gesture, he threw the wooden door open and walked through the new opening. It slammed shut behind him, leaving us all to ourselves.

The tension in the air that had been there the entire time evaporated after he left. Everybody looked around at each other, but most eyes were on me, studying me. Some eyes were full of shock, others awe, and one woman just looked totally disgusted with me. I tried to ignore her intimidating stares.

"You're very brave…" Alice whispered. Her voice shook, like she was afraid to speak.

I tried to smile, but it felt awfully forced. "Oh, no, I'm not brave. Right now I'm about ready to pee myself."

Her eyebrows moved together. "Then why didn't you?"

It was an awkward question, but I didn't have a choice but to answer. So I just shrugged. "I don't know. It's kind of embarrassing to pee your pants."

"But you were scared. Right? But you didn't look scared."

"I have too much pride to actually let my enemy know that I'm terrified of them." Come to think of it, I nearly did the same thing to Beyond. Of course, he scared the snot out of me and made me toss my breakfast everywhere (which I was _still_ mad about), but I pretended to be brave there, too. Maybe it was just my natural response to danger.

She tilted her head to the side. Long strands of frail and ratted blonde hair moved as she did. I could bet that she had pretty hair a year ago, but she probably hadn't had a proper shower in a long, long time.

"You know you're just making him mad, right? Being stubborn makes him frustrated."

"Good. Maybe he'll just crawl in a hole and die due to the stress that I'll throw him. I swear, I will make his life so much of a living hell that he'll _want_ to go to jail just to get away from me."

She shook her head. "You can't. He'll just beat you."

This girl clearly had no faith. I wanted to scream at her and tell her that she had to keep some hope, but I knew already that it was useless. It wouldn't make any difference to make her ears bleed.

"That doesn't matter to me. As long as I will get out of here and see my best friend again, I'll take a stroll with death if I have to."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Akira." I replied. Involuntary tears flooded into my eyes, and I couldn't stop a few from dribbling onto my cheeks. "He saved my life, to tell the truth. Before I was kidnapped, the man was about to shoot me. But Akira… he… he stepped in front of me and took the bullet for me." I couldn't help but sob softly at the memory. I wanted to forget it, but even more than that, I wanted to hold onto it and never let it go. It was the last that I had seen of him before we were separated from one another. And that moment was one that I would treasure until the day I died.

"Wow…" She breathed. "He sounds like a really nice guy."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, he really is." I sad smile crept onto my face. My eyes fell to stare at the ground. I then shut my eyes and sighed softly, almost content with thinking about my best friend. Even though my shoulder was still bleeding, and my cheek was quite sore, at least my heart was still being warmed with nice thoughts and memories.

* * *

**L's POV  
**

* * *

He waited a second before answering the call Watari was sending via computer. The black 'W' was printed on the screen, alerting the detective of who was requesting a conversation. With the simple press of a button, the 'W' disappeared, and instead Watari's face appeared. The first thing that L noticed was the amount of stress that looked to be worrying his butler.

"Yes?" L started the conversation.

"L, we have a problem." Watari replied. His voice was shaky with worry, and some sweat looked to be beading his forehead. "Apparently Yukio Chi has disappeared. The police reported finding Akira Sato, Miss Chi's best friend, unconscious in a store with a bullet in his gut. They said that he was alive, but only by some miracle."

L frowned. That was odd; why would someone take Chi but not Sato? A bullet to the stomach was usually fatal, and he didn't believe in 'miracles' such as that. L could list off the countless probabilities that came in his mind almost immediately, but it wasn't worth it. The chances of being killed by that kind of shot were too high for a young boy – probably only age eighteen at the most – for L to actually believe that it was by some miraculous chance that he survived.

With that thought, it lead him to another possibility.

"Watari, have you checked over this boy's wounds yourself?"

"No, I have not sir. I was only sent photos and a few documents of the crime."

"Please send all information you were given to me. I'd like to review it myself."

"Of course, sir." Typing and clicking was heard from Watari's end, and in a few moments, digital documents and photographs displayed themselves on the side of the large screen before him. They didn't take up the entire thing, but they begin to form some kind of makeshift border around the edge.

L scanned it with his eyes quickly, taking in every word and detail of what he was given. The photos were not of the best quality, and looked to be taken by some kind of basic camera. There was one picture of Sato's body, which was in fact covered with blood, or perhaps some kind of fake blood. He was lying flat on his stomach, looking completely dead, but L refused to believe that until he had full proof that Akira Sato was innocent.

It all just seemed too cliché. Beyond escaped. Chi met Beyond. Beyond was recaptured. Chi was kidnapped. Could this be some kind of underlying way of forcing him to let Beyond free? It made sense, in a way. If Beyond had predicted he would be captured and truly wanted freedom, then it was possible that he could have made arrangements with a few others. Capture the girl and hold her for ransom, which the payment would only be Beyond's freedom. Nothing less than that.

L bit down hard on his thumb. The skin had long since gotten used to the feeling, so it didn't hurt much anymore.

Was Chi worth letting Beyond go? The police handled kidnappings such as this all the time. Perhaps it wasn't even necessary to release the criminal. The police had their own detectives that could solve this. It wasn't really worth his time to hunt the kidnappers down, was it?

"Watari, you said that Chi was not reported to be at the scene. Do you know if she was kidnapped for sure?"

"Multiple witnesses reported a girl that fit her description being taken."

L sighed, letting his hand drop to sit next to his other one that rested on his knees. "And what about the kidnapper? Did any of the witnesses describe him or her?"

"After piecing together some of their explanations, I've concluded that he is a male in his mid-forties, with short brown hair, small light brown eyes, and a height of approximately five-foot-eleven. They said he was wearing blue jeans, a caramel colored shirt, and a leather jacket."

"Do the police have a list of possible suspects?" L asked after a moment of hesitation. He wasn't incredibly interested on working to get one girl back. Kidnappings happened often, and when he had the Kira case on his mind constantly, it made working on other cases much tougher. Even finding Beyond was a bit more trouble than normal.

"A long one, yes."

"Send it to me."

"Yes."

Another e-mail came. L glanced at the list, but it was incredibly long. Too long to look over while talking.

"I'd also like to mention that only twenty-seven of these men have criminal records. I took it upon myself to separate them into two separate lists. I haven't had time to do a full background check on any of them, but I got the names, ages, and records of those who have them." Another message came to him. This one was organized with much more information, which pleased L.

"Thank you, Watari." L mumbled. "Is there anything else?"

"No, sir. I'll call you again if I find out anything else."

"Yes, please do."

L signed off and turned his attention back to what he was thinking of before.

Sato and Beyond. The boy didn't look like the type to associate himself with such intense crimes, but L knew better than anyone else to not judge someone by their appearance. Considering the detective himself didn't look very intelligent himself, he knew that Sato could've easily been wearing an emotional mask to fool everyone.

If it was possible, then Beyond and Sato could have met up secretly and come to some sort of an agreement. Sato apparently had some kind of history with Chi if Watari had said that they were friends. If Beyond had made the plan L had in mind, then he could've used Sato's friendship with Chi to his advantage. Chi wouldn't expect her best friend to betray her, so if Sato had faked his death and allowed Chi to get taken, then she would never figure it out by herself.

The next factor that L had to consider was with the kidnapper. Beyond hadn't had much time in between escaping and being captured, to make plans, and Chi had given him a full description of their time together. The only time she mentioned them being apart was at night, and he had returned again sometime before she had woken up that morning. That didn't leave much negotiation time with other parties, but it was possible. However, such a complex crime should've taken more time to think out thoroughly.

L was stumped on whether to considering Sato a true friend of just a fake who considered Chi just a pawn, perhaps in something much larger.

The detective knew that Beyond was desperate for his freedom, and he probably would go to any extreme to get it. By rescuing Chi's mother from being killed, that instantly made Chi build an involuntary trust in Beyond. Whether she approved of it or not, she probably thought that Beyond was no longer a threat if he was willing to save her mother. However, Beyond probably knew that he wasn't going to be free without troubles. It was like Beyond to have a backup plan (no pun intended) just in case things didn't go in his favor.

However, that would mean someone else would have to know about Beyond's containment in order to carry out the plan. The only one who Chi would have most likely told this to would have been Sato, and even that's a stretch. Which means one of two things; 1.) If Chi did actually tell Sato, then he could've possibly called the kidnapper to let him know. Or, 2.) There was a traitor around that somehow knew of Beyond's capture.

The second option didn't give very many suspects. Those who know of what happened would be either Mello, Near, Matt, or Watari. Mello may have been quite easy to anger, but there was nothing that happened to give the boy a reason to betray. Near had the brains to carry out such a crime, but was far too trustworthy, and took silent pride in his position as L's number one successor. Matt had only been allowed to hack into Chi's laptop, and while doing so, got a brief explanation of what had happened. Matt was a passive boy, and there was nothing that set him off, either. And Watari was the man L trusted the most, and he had full faith in the old man. Watari would never do such a thing.

L was quite relieved to discard the second option.

The first option, however, was much more possible than the second. Really it all depended on if Chi had told Sato of Beyond's capture or not.

If she did, then Sato could have called the man assigned to kidnap Yukio Chi and scheduled the time and date. By the looks of the photos Watari sent earlier, they had been at some kind of shopping center. It was possible that Sato took her out to shop on purpose at that exact time just so that she could be kidnapped. It was a cruel, but not an impossible, thought.

He sighed quietly. Every solution he came up to only lead to another question. However, he continued to think, not letting himself be discouraged.

Beyond was a sly creature. It was also possible that he had made an earlier agreement with Chi that she hadn't mentioned. Perhaps she was informed of the kidnapping all along, and this was all just some scheme to get Beyond out. For all L knew, Beyond hadn't familiarized himself with many people before he had been locked away the first time. But, if he had made a friend or two, who could have happened to include Yukio Chi, then it was extremely possible that she also wanted him out, and was willing to play the innocent part just to force L to release Beyond.

The idea also made sense, just like many of the others. It would explain why Beyond saved Keiko Chi from being killed, and it even brought up the idea of the woman's attacker also agreeing to his death. Still, Yukio Chi would've had to have been an incredible actor. Both Near and L thought she had sounded awfully genuine.

If that was so, they were not going to get what they wanted. L knew better than to release Beyond. The man was too unpredictable. It was probably best just to execute him and move on with life. The most recent possibility he had thought of, the one where Chi was willingly part of this, then they wouldn't kill her or cause her any serious harm. But, still, there was not enough evidence to settle on that one chance. If Chi had in fact been seriously kidnapped and was being held as a hostage, then if her kidnappers caught wind of Beyond's execution, they probably wouldn't deem her of any further use, and would dispose of her immediately.

L turned to look at a different screen. It had constantly been playing a live video of Beyond ever since he had been thrown into the interrogation room. L knew it was best to try and get as much information as possible out of him, but he was quite reluctant to talk to the killer. With so many thoughts on his mind, it would probably be quite obvious to Beyond's keen ears.

* * *

**Okay, so this chapter isn't as long as some of the others, and I'm sorry, but it was super packed with information, specifically on L's part. I was having a hard time making sure I didn't leave out any important details. If I did and it seems like L is forgetting something obvious, then I'd really appreciate it if you pointed it out. :)**

**I'm really sorry. I lied about the Beyond and Yukio parts that were supposed to be in this chapter. At first I thought her kidnapping was going to be something small, but then with Camisado's great ideas, I decided to make this a bit longer. So, I'm sorry if this chapter was boring or confusing. Nobody is going to blame you if you have to read L's part again just to try and figure out what the heck is going on in that detective's mind.**

**Everybody's reviews and critique is extremely awesome! Like, seriously, the review count compared to the number of chapters makes me squeal and jump up and down every time I see it. I love knowing that people like to voice their opinions on something that I've written. It lets me know that the story is at least sitting in their mind for enough time for them to write out a review. Sooooo... *hugs everyone* I LOVE YOU ALL! I don't care if you're just reading this to see how long it takes for me to crumple or something; I love you anyway!**

**~BurntPickle**


	10. In Danger

**I don't own Death Note... still...**

* * *

**Keiko's POV**

The poor mother began sobbing as soon as the news reached her. She stood at the doorway, without an ounce of make up on her face, as she had just been ready to go to sleep. The tall, elderly man who had introduced himself as Watari had been the one to break the sad news to her.

Her hands lifted to cup her face. Her knees felt weak, but she stood there in the doorway. Her shoulders shook with the hysterical sobs that were threatening to bubble from her mouth.

"Oh Yukio…" She moaned. "My poor baby…"

Watari lifted a hand to set it on her shoulder to comfort the shattered woman. "I'm sure she's alright, ma'am. Her friend, Akira, said that she had only been taken, not wounded."

"But my child's life is now at the hands of some stranger!" She cried with hot tears falling down her face. "How can you say that she is alright?!"

Watari dropped his hand, only vaguely able to understand how the mother felt. "I'm terribly sorry. L is working to locate the kidnapper as fast as he can."

She wiped her face with the heel of her hand. "How long do you think it'll take to find her?"

"Probably not more than a week at most. The best lead he can get is from the witnesses, and many of them are quite shaken up."

She sniffled and nodded slowly. "Thank you."

Watari bowed his head politely. "If there is anything you need, give me a call." He handed her a tiny notecard with a phone number printed on it.

She tried to smile as she accepted the card, but it wasn't wholehearted. Sadness was burrowed deep inside of her, tearing her apart piece by piece.

With a soft goodbye, she turned and shut the door behind her, only to fall back against it. She felt incredibly feint, and ended up sliding down the door to curl up on the floor quietly.

The mother felt horrible. How could this have happened? What had she, or Yukio herself, done wrong to deserve such a cruel thing. The innocent girl was only sixteen, also.

She couldn't take much more silence. She let out a mournful cry and dropped her forehead to her knees in deep, endless sadness.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

I yawned loudly, my voice barely echoing in what I had officially concluded was an abandoned barn. I was getting quite tired, and impossibly bored. My stomach had begun to make noises, too, complaining to me about the lack of food in my body. My energy was low, and sadly I was craving some sugar.

The man hadn't come back yet, and it was beginning to get dark. I could hear those loud bugs humming in the trees, and crickets were beginning to sing. And the air was starting to feel cooler, like the sun was disappearing. The places that once had windows were covered in boards that had been nailed to the walls.

My body was heavy with fatigue. I hadn't slept well last night, and my night had even been interrupted by that invasion of privacy, and now I was chained to a wall, which I knew would be a terribly uncomfortable position to try and sleep in.

"Hey, Alice?" I muttered, rolling my head lazily to look at her. "When do we get to eat?"

"Whenever the Master feels like feeding us."

"Wait a minute, hold up. You mean we could go for days without food just for this guy's pleasure?"

She nodded once. "Yes."

"And you refer to him as… the Master."

She nodded again. "Of course. What else would I call him?"

"I don't know. Idiot? Butt-wipe? Bitch? Whore? Slut? Need I say more?"

She frowned. "He wouldn't appreciate those nicknames."

"Have I ever cared what he does or does not appreciate?" She didn't give an actual response, so I continued. "I don't. It's his own fault for kidnapping me."

"You should be more careful, though." Alice warned, her eyes sparkling in fear. "You might think that he'll let you go if you annoy him enough, but he won't. He'll just kill you. By releasing you, that would be like allowing you to tell the world. He'll never do that."

I sighed. She was right. But I wasn't going to succumb to his intimidating status. My pride wouldn't let that happen.

All I could really hope for was that maybe L-number-one and/or L-number-two were working to get me back. With those two geniuses possibly working together to solve the crime, then maybe it would be finished within a week maybe. I could probably hold on for that long… right?

I shook my head. "There isn't much else I can do, though. If I let him overpower me, he'll make sure to destroy every part of my soul and heart. I know he will because I gave him the challenge. It's my fault, and I'll admit that no matter how much it makes my pride throb. But it's nearly impossible for me to not screw up any chances of my survival in any situation." I leaned my head back to rest against the wall, and I stared up at the ceiling. "It's almost funny how in the past week I've lost my father, nearly lost my mother, somewhat-befriended an insane criminal from an escaped asylum, had said criminal leap from a moving car on the highway, and had my best friend shot in front of me. It's a miracle that I'm still saner than Beyond."

"Beyond? Like, further than?"

"No, Beyond is the name of that criminal I somewhat-befriended. Beyond Birthday is his full name." I explained casually. It didn't even occur to me at first that I probably sounded like some strange whack-job who really needed some serious counseling.

"Who names their child that?"

"I've been asking myself that for some time now." I agreed with a nod. "But, hey, whatever works. Right?"

Her lips curled softly into a gentle, half-hearted smile. I didn't expect her to put on some giddy grin, so I was content with knowing that talking to her at least brought out some kind of smile in her.

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

"_Birthday, what is your association with Akira Sato?"_ The modified voice demanded suddenly in a stern tone. It almost startled Beyond, but he made sure to not even blink.

He raised an eyebrow at the camera. "That guy? I have nothing to do with that kid."

"_Don't lie to me, B. Tell the truth."_

"I don't understand." Beyond said suspiciously, frowning as he spoke. "All I know about him is that he's the friend of Yuki-Chan. That's it." He admitted.

No sound came from the speaker for at least two minutes, which really confused Beyond. Usually L was such a quick thinker that it took him a few mere seconds to think things through. As the seconds dragged on, Beyond began to jump to his own conclusion: Something bad had happened.

It was easy to figure out, really. Beyond had next to no connections with Akira Sato. He knew his name, but that was really it. So to think L would ask about him with such a forceful and quite concerned voice could only mean that something had happened that had involved Akira. And, if L was willing to ask _Beyond_, which probably killed a large chunk of the detective's ego, then it was probably nothing good. If it was good, then why would L have to question him?

"_Is that really all you know about this boy?"_

"Yes." Beyond confirmed. He didn't even put on a smug expression to possibly taunt the detective and make him doubt the killer. "L, something has happened, hasn't it?" Beyond asked after another long pause. He was beginning to grow concerned.

It took the detective some time to answer. Beyond counted twenty-seven long seconds. "_Yes._"

"And let me guess; you think I'm behind it."

"_It's one of my hypotheses."_ L admitted.

"What happened?" Beyond questioned, not even bothering to hide any kind of unease in his voice. Of course, he regretted letting it slip through after the words escaped, but he didn't have much room in his head to mentally kick himself. His mind was filled with an endless amount of possibilities of what could have happened.

"_That information is classified."_

Beyond gritted his teeth together in frustration. "What am I going to do? There's nobody in here to tell it to. Even if I do somehow get outside in the future, what good does it do me to spread rumors about some event that the rest of Japan probably already knows about?"

"_It's not that I don't want this information spread, it's because there is no need for you to know. Either way, I'm eighty-two percent sure that you already know what happened."_

"How _could_ I know what happened? I can see names and lifespans, but I can't know all of the secrets of the Earth." Beyond didn't even realize that his tone of voice resembled Yuki-Chan's.

"_Admit it, B. You've had this all planned out."_

"It might help if you told me what 'this' is." He deadpanned.

"_What are the conditions of your agreement?"_ L moved onto a different, and completely unexpected subject.

"What agreement?" Beyond asked curiously. Maybe L knew something about Beyond that the killer didn't.

"_The one you must've made with Sato, and apparently the attackers, too."_

"I don't believe I ever made one with anybody like that. Oh, and who are these attackers that are somehow involved in this situation?"

"_I know that you already know, Birthday!"_ L accused. It was clear that the detective has his heart set on one specific answer, but for all Beyond knew, he was wrong about whatever the heck it was.

"If I knew, would I be wasting my breath by asking all of these questions?"

"_Why must you make this difficult, B?" _L sighed, sounding exasperated with the confused killer. Beyond could almost be described as innocent in this situation, but there wasn't anyone so naïve who would actually even let the thought cross their mind.

"I'm not making it difficult. You're just being uselessly stubborn. Really, L, you need to drop whatever idea you're set on and move on to listening to the facts." Beyond said with a bored tone of voice.

"_I do still think that you're lying, and that you do truly know what has happened._" And with that, Beyond knew L was done with the interrogation.

The funny thing about it all was that Beyond really had no idea what L was talking about.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

"Good morning, ladies." The man who Alice referred to as the Master – which was a name I'd never use – pranced into the barn happily. I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, so I was already awake when he strolled in. My eyes felt like they were about to pop out of my head because they were so heavy, but no matter what I did, I wasn't able to fall asleep while I was chained to a wall. It was a very lonesome night, but I instantly wanted to go back in time when the man walked it.

The door shut behind him, banging loudly as it did. Gradually everyone started to wake up as he began to strut around, looking everyone over with his eyes, occasionally brushing his hands on the hips of some of the women. I was still the only person actually dressed, so I felt a little more comfortable than I would if I wasn't, but it didn't make it any better when his hand lingered on my waist, his fingers petting the fabric of the clothes that didn't even belong to me. Yeah, I was still dressed in that outfit Akira had picked out for me. It still had price tags on everything.

"I said _good morning_." He hissed directly at me, glaring into my eyes fiercely.

"Yeah, I heard you." I growled. "No need to repeat yourself."

He wasted no time in lifted an arm and clenching his fingers tightly around my throat. A wave of surprise and panic washed through me a few moments afterwards, since fatigue was really slowing me down. I was barely able to contain the yelp that bubbled in my mouth.

"I expect a response." He snarled, leaning his face close to mine. His breath reeked of alcohol, and his eyes were bloodshot. _Great,_ I thought to myself. _Just what we all need. A drunk man who is probably horny._

"That sucks, doesn't it?" I croaked out. "I'm expecting an entire army to come and save my sorry ass, but looks like they're running late."

He tightened his grip, basically cutting off every chance I had at breathing. I was gasping like a fish out of water, which really hurt my fragile ego. I probably didn't even look good doing it either. _Yukio, you dumbass, you've been kidnapped for crying out loud! Stop being so freaking stubborn!_

"Good. Morning." He said in a warning tone.

I pinched my lips together before reluctantly murmuring, "Good morning…"

My defeat brought a huge smile to him lips. He released my immediately and stepped back. "Beautiful. Your soul is beginning to break."

I scoffed. "Yeah, right. I was just getting your hopes up, sucker." I then put on a smirk to complete the act, but I knew that I was lying. I could feel it. No matter how much I wanted to ignore it, I knew was weakening.

He chuckled happily. "Sure." And then he moved on, continued to feel up the other women. I felt incredibly sorry for them, but it didn't even seem like half of them noticed his hands all over them. It was like they were used to it all.

I knew right then that I would never give in that much. Even if my soul was bruised a little, I would never lose every ounce of dignity I had. There was no way in Hell that I would just let him waltz around and grab my boobs like that and not bat an eyelash at him.

"Now, who is going to be the lucky girl today?" He asked, walking to the middle of the room to survey his wall décor; aka, all of us. His eyes continued to lurk on _moi_. I wanted to do something to possibly disappear from him, but it wasn't happening. He would move his gaze away from me from time to time, but it would always come back.

"You know," He began approaching me. "I find it hard to ignore a girl when she's feeling so weak hearted." He stopped in front of me and placed a hand on my shoulder, looking at me with lustful eyes. "Shall I cheer you up? Or maybe I should just break your further."

"I'd prefer it if you just left me alone, period." I rolled my eyes.

"Now, now, why would you say that? You look so utterly lonely." The hand on my stomached slithered down to tug at the waistband of those damn short-shorts Akira has picked out. Every muscle in my body went rigid immediately.

"It's okay, I'm fine." I assured, but my voice betrayed me a shook a little. I had first hoped that it was unnoticeable, but when he only pressed himself closer to me, I knew that he had probably heard it.

"Are you sure?"

"You're in my personal space." I said quickly, trying to hide to panic that was leaking into my voice. My breaths were becoming shallow with fear, and it was all too easy for him to hear.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He laughed softly and put his forehead against mine, gazing into my eyes with his horribly bloodshot ones. If I wasn't already as far into the wall as I could go I would've sunk further. There wasn't anything else I wanted except to disappear. He lifted his other hand to balance against the wall behind me so that he could basically lay on me. I was uncomfortable, but he didn't look like he was moving at all.

I closed my eyes to try and avoid his impious stare. I felt that if I looked into it much longer I'd be swallowed whole by his eyes.

_L, Goddammit, where the hell are you? Heck, L-number-two, I'd love to play hangman with you again. Just, please… help me._

* * *

**L's POV**

* * *

"Watari, any new information on Chi?" L asked his butler. He had just shared as many ideas as he felt necessary with the old man, who had listened patiently for L to finish all of his thoughts.

"No, I have no new leads." Watari admitted. They were speaking through the webcam again, as Watari had been out gathering evidence for the last hours. "It seems like nobody knows where she was taken."

L nibbled on his thumb angrily. He hated not knowing everything. Watari was obviously doing his best with the visible bags under his aged eyes, but there wasn't enough information for L to come to a good decision.

Beyond had to have been lying. There was no way that he wasn't involved in her 'kidnapping'. Maybe it was a fraud, maybe not. But either way he had to have been part of it. It all made sense that it would happen. Beyond wouldn't care what kind of casualties were made and he wouldn't regret using people as long as he got what he wanted in the end.

If only Chi's suspicions were right, and he _could_ actually read mind. It would make things so much easier. But, sadly, he was only human. Humans don't read minds or have superpowers in general.

L let go of a breath before continuing, "What else did you learn?"

"Nothing of much importance." Watari admitted. "It was all the same information over and over again. Nobody burst into the building, only a few unsuspicious people pulled out guns all of the sudden after Akira Sato had been shot. Four people, counting Mr. Sato, had been shot and only one man is in critical condition."

"I see. And what about Akira Sato? Is he in a stable condition?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to speak to him."

* * *

L had Akira Sato's face pulled up on the webcam. Watari was with Sato to keep control of the laptop and other electronic devices in the room. L refused to show his face, especially since the Kira case was still going on. He wasn't about to take any chances.

"How are you feeling, Sato?" L asked politely, knowing that it was the courteous thing to do. Really he didn't care at all, and wanted to move on to the questioning, but by starting out the conversation in a kind manner, it would hopefully let the boy feel a little more comfortable, and then would make him feel better answering the questions truthfully.

Sato did a small shrug. He was shirtless with a large bandage wrapped around his waist where he had been shot. "_Fine, I guess. You?"_

"I'm also fine. Now, I have a few questions for you."

The boy seemed to deflate. L could almost see the hope evaporating from his pores. "_You don't have Yukio back yet, do you?"_

"No, I don't. But I was wondering if you know where she is."

Sato frowned. "_How would I know that? If I knew, don't you think I would tell you?"_

"Maybe. Let me ask you this; what is your relationship with Beyond Birthday?"

_"We don't have one. I barely know him. It's Yukio who knows him best."_

L gritted his teeth together in frustration. These weren't the kind of answers he wanted. He wanted confessions that he knew were inside of the boy. No matter how genuine the boy looked and sounded, he wouldn't believe it.

"Are you sure?"

"_Yeah. That Beyond Birthday guy scares the crap out of me. I don't know how Yukio is still sane."_

L decided to jump onto a different topic. Sato's mind was clearly clouded with worrisome thoughts of his friend. It was useless to try and get him to pay attention to anything else.

"Do you still think she's alive?"

His eyes widened dramatically. "_Of course I do! I know she's still alive. I don't know if you've ever felt this, but true friendships have this… this invisible string, you could say. If she was dead then the string would be gone."_ He lifted a hand to his chest and sighed. "_But I know something is wrong. I can feel it. It's like the string is fraying."_

"How do you know something is wrong with her?"

"_I don't know for sure; it's just a feeling. Maybe it's just because I'm worried about her. Still, I haven't been sleeping well and I'm totally stressed out. I know there has to be something bad happening to her."_

L frowned. Sato would know that something bad was happening to Chi if he had knowledge of what was going to happen. L had never felt a real friendship like Sato had described so he had no idea if the boy was actually telling the truth or not, but L knew that friends betrayed one another all the time. If there was some kind of benefit for Sato, then he could have set up the attack and allowed Chi to be kidnapped. Or maybe Chi already knew what was going on and he was making it all up.

"Did you recognize the face of the attacker?"

"_No, he didn't look familiar to me. He just walked up and basically starting to tell us to come with him. Of course, we refused. That's the reason he used his gun."_

"And he was going to shoot Yukio Chi, but you took the bullet instead." L confirmed.

_"Yeah."_

"Why?"

"_Why?" _The boy looked confused. "_She's my best friend. I wouldn't dare let her get hurt, especially by some creep." _His hand tightened into a fist like he was angry. "_I just can't believe she was still taken. I hoped he would run off after his cover had been blown, but he still got her."_ He dropped his head in shame. "_There had to have been a better choice I could've made."_

L watched in silence, still trying to decide whether Sato was lying or not. He hated to admit it, but L really just _wanted_ Beyond Birthday and Sato to be working together. Then he would be right, and he could close the case after getting Chi back because he was now basically obligated to. But based on the evidence he was being shown, it appeared that those two really had nothing to do with Chi's kidnapping.

He grimaced in frustration. It made perfect sense that Beyond would use her to set himself free. And the timing of her disappearance was just too coincidental for the two cases to be unrelated. Beyond was taken, Chi was abducted. Things like that just didn't happen without a reason, yet both Birthday and Sato weren't confessing.

"_Please…"_ Sato whispered, but L still heard it. "_Get Yukio back. I'll never be able to forgive myself if she's been killed."_

L paid attention to the plea. "Why would you blame yourself?"

"_Because I probably could have done something else to stop the man. I could've tackled him, or punched him, kicked him… Anything! But I didn't!"_ The boy began yelling angrily, and looked up at the laptop again. This time, though, he had tears in his eyes. "_Just get her back alive. Please."_

L closed his eyes. "I'll do my best."

"_Thank you."_

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

I sat in the darkness with my knees curled up against my bare chest. My arms were wrapped around my legs as I sat there, trembling with tears streaking my cheeks. I tried to stifle my sobs, but I was already hurting so much that it was hard to hold them in.

I closed my eyes as tight as they could and dropped my forehead onto my knees. I was naked and freezing cold. Apparently there had been some kind of basement underneath the barn, and that's where I had been taken to.

Why, you may ask?

To be raped, that's what.

There were no lights on anymore. The man had done what he wanted and left me, turning off the lights when he left. I used to know where the stairs were, but I had forgotten their location by now.

But I didn't care. I didn't want to move anyway. I was too scared to even stand. He didn't even bother to chain me up, that's how still I was staying.

I didn't know if he was coming back, but if he planned to, heads would roll. Not only was I scared, but I was severely pissed off. I almost wanted him to come back so I could tear him apart, limb by limb. Of course, I had no idea how I could manage to do that, but that's not the point. I could probably tear his ribcage apart if all else failed.

The darkness wasn't all that bad, actually. I would have preferred the lights to be on so I could see everything, but part of me didn't want to see anything at all. If there was a giant spider two feet in front of me I wouldn't know as longs as the lights stayed off. What I didn't know couldn't hurt me, right?

I couldn't stop shaking, and the tears wouldn't stop falling. I had never wanted help as much as I did right now. All I needed was someone – anyone – to show up and take me home. I wanted to go home to my mom. I wanted to see Akira and make sure he wasn't dead. Hell, I even wanted to see Beyond just because I was still a little worried about him.

I quietly let myself sob into my knees. Everything in my life was being so messed up all of the sudden. It all started with the loss of my father. I missed him like crazy, so I found it odd that he wasn't the one on my mind all the time. It was Akira and Beyond who were taking up so much space in my thoughts. Maybe it was because I knew my father was dead, but I had no idea what had happened to the other two guys. It was probably the lack of closure that was driving me insane.

Suddenly I heard a door opening. I lifted my head to see light flooding into the room. I instantly slid backwards until I was tucked into the far corner of the room, staring at the door with wide eyes.

The man casually strolled down to flick on the lights. I winced as the brightness hit my eyes, but the light was the least of my concerns.

"Nice to see you again." He greeted.

I curled my upper lip in disgust. His face looked even uglier now, which was hard to imagine. Now he didn't even look human; only pure monster.

"What, don't you have anything to say? Where are your witty comments you always made?" He taunted drawing closer, probably to make the fear in my chest worse.

"You're… a bitch…" I muttered, watching his every move. The words came out of my mouth, but they didn't feel as full of meaning anymore. I knew my soul had been damaged even more than before, but I didn't expect it to be_ that_ obvious.

"Am I?" He knelt down in front of me and cupped my cheek gently, looking at me in adoration.

I snapped out with a leg and kicked him in the gut, knocking him backwards. I didn't think about it, I only acted. So I threw myself forwards and smacked him in the chest with my palms, shoving him to the ground.

He groaned in pain, but reacted quicker than I had expected. With great aim, he pulled his arm back and smashed his fist into my stomach. The air that had once been in my lungs was gone, and I crumbled to the side, whimpering as I clutched my waist in pain. _Holy crap… That hurt a lot…_

He was on his feet before I could regain my strength, and the next thing I felt was a boot pushing down on my back, forcing me to curl my knees against my chest. He pressed down hard, digging his heel in hard.

"Stupid bitch." He snarled before slamming his foot violently into my ribs. I couldn't help but yelp as the pain registered, and I fell to my side, covering my head with my arms in an overly pathetic fetal position.

He laughed cruelly, looking down at me with a mocking expression. "Look at yourself! I can't believe that this is the same girl who was here just a few hours ago!"

I peeked up in between my arms to glower at him. Yeah, I probably did look useless and pitiful, but what could I do? I was still in shock and frozen in that state of immobilization. It was amazing that I was able to attack him in the first place.

Another kick came, this time planting itself closer to my hip. I winced and curled further into myself. Maybe I'd be lucky and be like some giant star and collapse in on myself. That's be a nice way to die. Either that, or I've always wanted to die saving someone else's life. But Akira may or may not have done that one already. It all depended on whether or not he was dead.

When the third kick was about to land on my shoulder that had been stabbed (and had only recently stopped bleeding), I reached out and took ahold of his ankle. I pulled on it roughly, tugging his weight off balance, so that he fell to his butt. I had hoped he would crack his tailbone, but I didn't hear that sound, which made me quite upset.

Using his leg as a balance, I swung one curled leg around and then straightened it, slamming my foot into his chest. He would've scooted backwards, but with my hold on his foot, it only snapped his body back. I was aiming for his chin, but I couldn't reach it at the angle I was at.

With his other leg, he kicked wildly until his heel my contact with my cheek. I hissed and reeled back, clutching my face as it throbbed with pain. He took a moment to get back up onto his feet after I had let go of his leg. Even though he was older than me, I was still slower. I was fatigued and scared, which really wasn't a good combination at all in my case. My reactions were all over the place.

He flew forwards and grabbed my hair, and with a rough pull, I was up and on my feet before I was even ready. Then he threw his weight towards me, forcing me to lose balance and trip backwards. He continued to push forwards until I crashed against a wall. My neck was snapped back by the impact and I felt my head bang against the wall. These walls were made of concrete since it was some kind of basement, and the floors were made of the same stuff.

My eyes blurred from bashing my head against the wall. Before I could even get my sight back, he forced me to hit the back of my head against the wall again. It hurt, and I was sure I was getting some kind of concussion, but by some super late miracle I was still able to function.

I jerked my leg up and fast as I could, and with as much strength as I could gather up, too. I felt my knee connect with his crotch, and immediately his body crumbled. His knees gave out and he crumbled to the ground, releasing my hair and allowing me to hop over him. My sight still wasn't back to normal, but I could make out the shapes of the objects around me.

But those blurry shapes didn't help me very much whenever I started up the stairs.

I had no idea where the stairs started at all, so I didn't know when to pick my foot up. Because of that, I smashed my toes against the base of the stairs and tripped, falling straight down to land awkwardly on the wooden steps. My wrists hit the edge of one step and my elbows hit the bottom of another. My knees landed on a step together, making it snap under the sudden weight and pressure that landed on it. I gave myself a moment to get over the throbbing that was going on _everywhere_ before forcing myself to crawl up the stairs on all fours.

I only knew where the door was when I ran straight into it. I groped around for the handle, but I couldn't seem to find it. Knowing my luck it just decided to disappear for no flipping reason.

After some serious effort, I finally got my hand on the knob, but as I did a pair of hands grabbed me by the waist and basically flung me down the stairs. I don't think I even touched the steps at all, but instead skipped all of those and landed on the ground instead.

I slid across the ground until I came to a stop against the wall. I was sure that I was just a giant walking, talking bruise by now, but I picked myself up anyway. Or, I pulled half of myself off of the ground. I was in a lazy sitting/slouching position while holding myself up with my arms.

As he was coming down the stairs, my vision was beginning to come back to normal finally. I blinked hard as my eyes adjusted back to seeing regularly.

He trudged over to me, and by then I was almost on my feet already, but he didn't do anything to shove me back down. He only grabbed another fistful of my hair and began dragging me back up the stairs. It was confusing since he just pushed me _down_ the stairs, but now we were going back up. He was such a hypocrite.

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

"_Your truly have no idea what has happened to Chi?"_

Beyond rolled his eyes. So the detective was back to that topic again.

"No, I don't. Go ahead, inject me with that truth serum. You'll probably learn a lot, but nothing that will benefit you."

He could hear L sigh through the speaker. He actually sounded tired, which was strange since L rarely became exhausted.

"_Chi has been kidnapped."_

Beyond's jaw opened as if to say something, but no words came out. He could feel his blood freezing in record time as the shock settled in. For once he would admit to himself that he was genuinely surprised.

Yuki-Chan, the girl who flung breakfast all over him instead of screaming for help, the girl who tolerated him when she could've turned him in, had been _kidnapped_. How was that even possible? It didn't make any sense to him.

"By who?" Beyond asked, making a huge effort to hide any emotion from him voice. But the truth was; he was worried. He would've been puzzled if he had actually tried to put any thought into it, but he decided to dwell over it later on.

_"I don't know that yet. You see, I first thought that it had been you behind it all."_

"Me? Considering I am in _here_ and she is _elsewhere,_ I don't see how you could possibly think that I took her."

_"I didn't mean that you in particular kidnapped her. But I did, and actually still do, believe that you scheduled with someone else to take her."_

"Why would I do that? It doesn't affect me whether she's on this planet or not." His words felt like a lie on his tongue. Would it affect him if she died or not? He let that question sit for a moment as it sunk in. He almost wanted her to die just to see how he would react, but part of him didn't want that to happen.

"_To provide yourself liberation. If she was being held for ransom, then the payment could only be your freedom."_

Beyond chuckled softly and closed his eyes with a smirk. "I didn't even think about it. L, do you secretly have morbid thoughts?" He teased, slitting his eyes open then to stare at the camera tauntingly.

"_No._" L answered simply, not leaving much extra room for conversation on the topic. _"Anyway,_ _I'm still not convinced that you're innocent."_

"That's fine, I've never been purely innocent it seems. I'm used to being accused."

_"Do you know anything that could hint at Chi's location?"_

"No, I don't. I've only seen her at home and school, and the path in between those two. I doubt she'd be at school if she was in serious danger, and you can't be kidnapped and taken to your own home and still call it a kidnapping."

_"She was kidnapped at a shopping center after being saved from being shot by Akira Sato. According to witnesses, she had been taken but nobody knows where to."_

Beyond thought to himself for a moment. Why was she kidnapped? He had nothing to do with it, and Yuki-Chan wasn't the type of person to just let something happen. L had mentioned that Akira had saved her from being shot, so perhaps she had been in shock, and that's when things got bad.

"How long has she been missing."

"_Almost twenty-four hours."_

When Beyond had killed someone, he would drug them first. The only reason he would kill was because they were close to their date of death, anyway. Yuki-Chan still had a year left, but perhaps by her being kidnapped was the reason she was going to die. If she was held hostage for so long, it was possible that the kidnapper was destined to kill her in a year. This thought bothered Beyond, realizing that she would have to live for an entire year before having her suffering be ended, and most likely not even in a painless way, either.

"Are you going to get her back?"

"_That's the plan."_

That didn't make him feel much better, but at least there was a chance that the previous idea he had was wrong. No matter how unlike him it was, he was actually hoping that he was wrong.

* * *

***cowers* Don't hurt me. I know, you might a little pissed that everything isn't all happy-go-lucky, or maybe you're mad for other reasons, but killing the author doesn't solve any problems! **

**Since I'm on Fall Break, there will probably be another chapter up by Sunday if I have as much free time as I plan to have.**

**Okay, I tried to make this chapter a little less confusing. It's difficult to convey so many thoughts (especially in L's parts) without missing any. Let me know if it sounds like anything super important is missing.  
**

**Thank you to everyone for your support, ideas, corrections, and critique! It lets me know that you're actually reading this story! ^_^**

**~BurntPickle**


	11. Getting a Lead on it

***jumps up and down squealing* We broke 50 reviews! Ahh! I'm so happy! And not only did we get fifty, but we completely surpassed it. Sixty-six. Guys... I LOVE YOU ALL! **

**P.S: I don't own Death Note. **

* * *

**L's POV**

* * *

He sat slouched forwards on a chair, balanced perfectly on his toes with his knees pulled tight against his chest. He stared forwards at the list of suspects as Chi's kidnapper. He had already eliminated more than half of them, but the narrowing process was getting harder. It had been four days now ever since she had gone missing. He chewed quietly on a strawberry as his thoughts ran on. This was the twenty-second berry he had gone through. He had a plate of their remains beside him. He hadn't meant to eat that many, but his body went on its own 'auto-pilot' and just kept eating.

"L,"

Said detective blinked and turned his head over his shoulder, his thoughts putting themselves on pause. Watari stood there with a short stack of papers in his arms.

"Yes, Watari?"

His butler walked over and dropped the stack onto his desk in front of him. "I went into further detail of all of the suspects with criminal records." He reached into his jacket and pulled out two more pieces of paper. "This one in particular is incredibly suspicious." Watari held the papers out towards L.

With a delicate grip, he took the paper with two fingers and held them both up in front of his face.

"Hikaru Yamada. Age forty-five," L began out loud in a mumble. "Born in America to Japanese parents. Raised in New York. Was involved with gangs and drugs in his teenage years. Was arrested for vandalism. Moved to Japan at age twenty-three." His eyes skimmed the rest of the page quickly and he read some of the larger points. "Three of his four wives have been killed, the other one seems to have gone missing. He had two children, both of which mysteriously died before age thirteen. He's moved to many different places in Japan over the past twenty years." L frowned and turned his attention to the next page.

It was a large list of people who had gone missing in the last ten years. The other page had listed all of the places he had lived. By folding the papers a certain way and putting the two lists side to side, he compared the locations. Watari wouldn't show him this without going over it himself, but he still had to look it over.

The list of missing persons was made up of about fifty people of different ages and genders. However, the places many of the females had been taken matched with places Yamada had lived. With a few quick checks and glances, he totaled there to be somewhere around twenty matches. Chi was at the very bottom of the list of missing persons, and Yamada's most recent bill payment had been made to only three miles away from the shopping center Chi had been taken from.

"Yes, you're right. He does seem especially suspicious. Do we have any videos of the attack at the shopping center?"

Watari nodded. "Yes, I'll go and get them."

"Thank you."

Watari walked away, leaving L by himself. He instantly reached over to fish through the other papers. He only took brief amounts of time to skim over their profiles. Although many of them had intriguing records, L was more convinced that Hikaru Yamada was the one they were looking for. It all lined up too well. Of course, he thought that about Beyond as well, but according to the evidence he had been given, it sounded like he was wrong for once. L was reluctant to accept that fact.

Soon Watari returned, placing a few record tapes beside the stack of papers he had set there before. "Will that be all, sir?"

L looked down at his bowl of remaining strawberries. Or, lack thereof.

"Could you possibly bring me a few more of these?" He said, holding up the empty bowl.

Watari chuckled with a warm smile. "Of course."

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

"_Have you ever heard of a man who goes by the name Hikaru Yamada?"_

Beyond frowned. "No, I haven't. Why?"

"_He appears to be the most likely man who kidnapped Chi. And apparently many other women, also."_

Beyond didn't like the sound of that for whatever reason. In his mind, he immediately pieced together that if this Hikaru Yamada guy had previously kidnapped other people in the past, then that meant that he definitely knew what he was doing, and was actually serious. If Yuki-Chan had really been taken by Hikaru Yamada, then she was probably in more danger than he had thought.

At that realization he felt his chest get tighter. Maybe that was just a side effect from being strapped up in a straitjacket for so long. That's what he wanted to believe, but part of him was trying to convince him that it just had to deal with Yuki-Chan. Perhaps he considered her a friend, like the relationship she had with Akira. Yes, he could deal with that. Sure, he had never intended to build a friendship with the girl, and he would probably be relieved if she truly hated him with a fierce passion, but he was able to at least rationalize his emotions.

Beyond had never had an actual 'friend'. He had let people build false relationships with him, but he had never actually felt attachment of any kind. So the fact that an annoying brat who had no trouble getting into sarcastic fights with him like Yuki-Chan could possibly actually capture just a sliver of his attention was quite a compliment for her. He would never actually tell her that, though.

"What about a location? Do you know where his victims might be trapped?" Beyond asked, specifically using the word 'victims' to hide some of his reluctant concern.

"_No, I don't have a specific point yet, but there are a range of places they might be."_ L sounded troubled, almost as if he was struggling with something. There was a moment of silence between the two before the detective continued. "_I'd like to ask you for some advice."_

Beyond couldn't hold back the smirk. It was about time the egotistical creep finally gave in. "I'd be happy to lend a hand. Well, that is, if you could possibly get them out of this jacket. I'd really like to feel my fingers again."

It was easy to hear the sigh. _"Is that your only condition?"_

Beyond was so shocked he nearly stopped breathing. Was that his _only_ condition? Oh, the possibilities were so grand. He now had L trapped. The killer could possibly possess valuable information and L was _willing to _come to an agreement with him. Beyond made himself a mental reminder to break into L's office and steal the audio tapes of this conversation.

"Could I possibly be ensured freedom?" He asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"_No."_

He frowned again. "Well it was worth a try. But other than getting this off of me, I think I'll have a jar of strawberry jam. That will be all."

L's pride was bound to be hurting, and Beyond was just thrilled about it. It wasn't often that the detective would ask for help from someone that he despised so much.

_"Fine."_

* * *

It wasn't complete freedom, but at least he could move his arms. Well, he still had his broken arm in a cast, so it wasn't perfect, but his other arm was able to do whatever the heck he wanted it to. Such as scoop out handfuls of his favorite flavor of jam.

L's butler had come to take the jacket off and deliver the jam. They still had to speak through the microphones and speakers, but that was fine with him.

"Alright, so what do you need help with?" Beyond asked as he stood leaning against the wall. It felt great to stand finally after being stuck in that sitting position for so long.

"_You know the mind of a psychopath best. If you promise to follow all of my instructions, I will allow you to go out with a task force of ten other armed and trained men to search the suspected areas I have already picked out."_

Beyond slowly nodded, taking in information as he sucked on a jam covered finger. "And just how does my 'psychotic' mind help you out?"

"_You've ended lives before. Chances are so has he. But I don't want you to think that the only reason I'm allowing you to help is because of that little trait of yours. You and I have similar ways of thinking, but as I am working on the Kira case, I would like to keep my identity hidden. I trust that you will be able to think the same way that I can, and therefor choices made by you will be close to ones that I will make._

_"Beyond, if you do anything to threaten this investigation, I will not hesitate to lock you away once again. I have done it once with no trouble, and I will gladly repeat the action."_

Beyond took a moment to think over L's words. The detective sounded sure of his words, but Beyond knew that L had had at least some trouble accepting the fact that someone he had grown up with had turned into a killer. For him it was like sending a younger sibling to a hellhole. Still, Beyond wasn't planning on jeopardizing anything just yet. He had no reason to.

"Fine, I'll do it. When do we leave?"

_"Let's settle with ten minutes from now."_

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

Being chained up again really sucked. Especially when you're butt naked and still sore. Everything hurt, to tell the truth. _Breathing still hurt._

Four days. That's how long I had been stuck in this damn place. Two days since I had been raped, and I was still struggling to get over that. I still hadn't been able to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I couldn't get the imagine of hands on me to get out of my head, so I would open my eyes and watch everything around me to make sure nobody was sneaking up on me. I now had a perfect image of paranoia, and it wasn't fun at all.

So, consequently, I was a crabby bitch who was starting to see hallucinations of what I was afraid of. Sometimes there would be a floating hand coming slowly towards me, and then I'd freak out and the entire room would start to wonder if I had already fallen off of the sane-train. Hey, that rhymed! Sane-train, sane-train, sane-train. Ha! All aboard the sane-train! Toot, toot!

_Oh my God, someone take me to whatever mental hospital Beyond had been at. That seemed to work for him. _

"Yukio, are you okay?" Alice asked in a soft, concerned whisper. Every time to so-called-Master left, we would chat. I'd say we were close to being buddies. Like locker neighbors. Expect… not really, actually. We were nothing like locker neighbors. We were two naked girls hung on a wall like some kind of piece of artwork. I don't know how I even managed to think that we were anything like locker neighbors. I kind of wish I could go back to school though and see my old locker neighbor, Jaqueline. She was kind of nice. Kind of.

"Yukio…" She sang softly, jerking me out of my train of thought.

I nodded. "Yeah, never better."

She frowned. "I don't think so. Your facial expressions are all over the place. Usually you look so bored, but just in the last three minutes or so, you've been confused, happy, scared, and stressed. I'm starting to think you're bipolar."

I shrugged. "Maybe I'm PMSing or something." Oh, that reminds me, when was I supposed to start my period again? Well, considering I couldn't seem to recall the month of the year we were in, it probably was useless to even try and figure that out anyway.

Alice didn't look convinced. "I know you haven't slept yet."

"So? What's so bad about that?"

"A lack of sleep isn't healthy."

"And neither is being stuck to a grimy old wooden board for four days straight, but you don't see my health going down the drain."

"Yeah… right…" She looked down at the ground as if she was trying to hide her face. "You should probably try to get some sleep, anyway."

"Why? What if something happens? I need to be awake in case this place starts burning down."

"If anything like that starts to happen, I'll be sure to wake you up."

"But how do I know that you won't be taken away or something? Maybe you'll figure out how to teleport, and you'll leave me! No, Alice, don't leave me here alone!"

She winced. "Yukio, teleportation isn't possible."

"Oh, we'll see about that. Time machines were deemed impossible, but Doctor Who has a big old honking telephone booth soaring through time, so why can't I?"

"Doctor who?"

"Yeah, Doctor Who."

"No, Doctor _who?"_

I blinked, dumbfounded. "Doctor Who." I repeated.

"No, what's his actual name?"

"Doctor. Who."

She gave me a WTF look. "I don't understand."

"Doctor Who." I repeated again. "That's his name. He goes by The Doctor."

She shook her head. "Whatever."

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Doctor Who!"

"What is he, some kind of creepy psychiatrist?"

"No, he's a time lord, silly!"

"A time lord? Those exist?"

"In television shows they do."

"Oh! It's a television show!" I swear, the room seemed to brighten at her sudden understanding. "That would've been helpful to know."

"I just can't believe you don't know who Doctor Who is. He's, like, awesome. Pretty cool show, too."

"I haven't watched television in so long." She mused. "What do you like to watch?"

I shrugged. "I lot of things. Really you can plug in any movie, even some kiddie movie, and all you have to do is give me a big bowl of fresh hot popcorn and you won't see me until it's done."

"Wow… I wish we could watch a movie right now."

"Yeah, that would so be the greatest. Come to think of it, I never watched the Lion King with Akira like we were going to. If he's still alive when L-number-one-slash-L-number-two gets my butt out of here, I'll have to have a movie marathon with him."

"Who are they?"

"Oh here we go again…" I took a deep breath. "L is the world's greatest detective, so to speak. Though, if he was really all that great, you'd think we'd be out of here by now. Anyway, L-number-two is his successor from what I've been told. He's just a little kid, too! He's your age and his IQ is way higher than mine!"

"How did you figure that out? Have you seen him?"

"Yeah. We've played games together too while I was waiting for an interrogation to finish. He totally doesn't play fair, though. If you ever meet him, never offer to play hangman with him. He'll make sure you never boast about your vocabulary again."

She giggled. "What's he look like? Is he cute?"

I curled my upper lip, bringing up his face again in my mind. It was a little hard to recall his appearance, but eventually it came to me. "I don't know if you'd call him _cute_. I guess once you get past the round creepy eyes and weird stare, then yeah he's sort of cute for a little boy. He's got long white hair and really, really pale skin. And he speaks all formally, too, like he's some kind of doctor or something."

"Aww, I'd love to meet him."

That confused me quite a lot. "Really? He totally proved that I was an idiot. Why would you want to hang around him?"

She smiled and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know. He just sounds like fun. I haven't talked to a boy my age in a long time."

"Well, sorry to break this to you, but he's not good at complimenting people. The best I got out of him was that I defied the law of probability with my terrible guessing skills."

That got another laugh out of her. It wasn't as funny to me as it was to her, but I didn't want to spoil her brief moment of happiness. Who knew when it would end?

"You probably set yourself up for it."

"Nu-uh!" I denied loudly. "How was I supposed to know that I had guessed the same letters more than once?"

"Uh… memory, possibly? It comes in handy, you know."

I huffed and turned my head the other way. The small movement didn't solve many problems, but there wasn't much I could do. "Great, now _you_ think I'm an idiot, too."

"No, that's not it!" She said, fighting another round of giggles.

"Uh-huh, yeah, _sure_, keep talking."

"Will you two keep it down?" One lady snapped, silencing us both immediately. "Before you know, the Master will come back and whip us all."

"Wait, we get whipped?" My eyes widened in fright.

"Well duh," She said belittlingly. "How do you think I got this son of a bitch?" She jerked his chin at her arm, where a bright pink long scar ran across her tan colored forearm.

"Oh." I muttered. "Okay."

"That's Martha." Alice whispered. "She's been here for more than five hundred days, apparently. I don't know why she keeps counting, but she's really short-tempered."

"I see that."

Martha had frizzy light brown hair and matching colored skin. Her eyes looked to be hazel, though I couldn't see very well since she was on the other side of the room. She was probably in her early thirties or younger. She was sort of pretty, but based on the short conversation we had, she was a jerk.

"Oh, and she claims to be the Master's wife." She added quickly in an even softer whisper. This girl was like a freaking mouse with her voice that could get so soft it was almost impossible to hear her. Maybe she should've been named Whisper instead of Alice.

After that we all kept quiet. Which was extremely bad for me. Why? Because all I had were my thoughts, and those were all over the place.

My mind groaned. _How much longer am I going to have to be here before someone shows up and gets all of our asses out of here? Really, L, I expected more from you. You should have this figured this out by now!_

I began to wonder where this 'Master' – which I would never dare ever even use that title as something honorable – was always going out to. Don't get me wrong, I was glad he was gone, but I was just a little curious. If I wasn't chained to a wall I would totally follow him around like some creepy stalker.

Suddenly, something blurry entered my vision. I blinked hard, trying to get a better focus on it, but as it drew closer, I still couldn't figure out what it was.

It had a human figure to it, it seemed. It was all black but had a familiar feeling to it.

_Oh shit, is that my spirit or something?_

As it got closer the black started to lighten, showing me just who it was.

I recognized them immediately. How could I possibly forget the large, dark eyes? Or the fluffy, wild black mess of hair? Or the bloody knife in his hand? Oh, wait, that was new.

"Beyond!" I beamed.

Beyond got closer. I was confused, but relieved to see him. He watched me with smaller pupils than normal, though, and his irises were _red_ for whatever reason. And he was covered in blood splatters. That wasn't like what I had seen of him at all. Was this what he had looked like to those he killed or something?

"B-B?" I stuttered, feeling the blood in my face slowly drain. Everyone in the room gave me a strange look, but I ignored them. I was more focused on the crazed look that Beyond's face held.

He got directly in front of me, and from there he raised the knife high above his head. A wicked grin curled his lips, and I could hear a quiet giggle escaping his mouth.

"Beyond, wait, stop!" I cried just as his arm twitched. But it was as if he couldn't hear me. He brought the knife down on me. I yelped and closed my eyes, but the pain never came. It reminded me of when Akira had stepped in front of the bullet, but there was nobody here to save me.

Slowly I opened my eyes to see that nobody was there. I frowned and looked around for Beyond, but her was nowhere to be seen. "B?" I whispered.

"Yukio… are you sure you're okay?" Alice muttered, looking utterly confused.

A hallucination. That's all it had been. But I hadn't expected it to be of him. Maybe my kidnapper or possibly something really scary, but I wasn't afraid of Beyond. He had never given me a reason _to_ be afraid of him. Of course, he did look quite scary, but I didn't understand how my mind could have possibly came up with that image. Red eyes? Really? That was so cliché, anyway.

I finally just shook my head. "No, I'm not sure…"

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

He hissed out a sigh in frustration and rubbed one of his temples with the hand of his good arm. This was the third place they had visited, and still there was no good evidence that was showing up. It was as if he never lived there at all. Beyond was beginning to lose his patience. He wanted answers to finish this all up as soon as possible.

And just to add onto the list of annoyances, he had to put up with some fourteen-or-so-year-old blonde haired brat who was apparently in charge of the entire search. Seriously, he looked like a girl with his hair that fell all the way to his shoulders. He was so bothersome that Beyond was seriously considering shooting the kid just to get him to shut up. It didn't seem like anyone would miss him if he did.

"Alright everyone, hurry it up! We still have five more places to check!" The boy barked.

"You do realize that if the search isn't thorough, then we could possibly miss something incredibly important." Beyond muttered as he stood beside the brat.

"Oh, you think so? Then would you like to lead this search? See if you get it done to L's expectations." The boy challenged.

Beyond smirked. "I know L better than you by a long shot. It may not seem like it, but I do. L only gets things done quickly if they're easy to be finished perfectly. Just at our last stop, these so called 'highly 0trained' men happened to miss this." Beyond reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper that he had swiped. He held it between two fingers in front of his shoulder, which was at the top of the boy's head. It was clear he still had yet to go through puberty.

The boy frowned. "What's that?"

With swift fingers he opened the paper to show it to him. "A list of even more addresses, most likely ones that he's visited or plans to in the future."

"Give me that." The boy snarled and snatched the paper from Beyond's hand, crinkling it under his tight grasp. He skimmed it with his squinted eyes quickly. "How do you know these have anything to do with Hikaru Yamada? They could just be random addresses."

"For what reason would he have a paper with random addresses that belongs to someone else? Hikaru probably doesn't have this many friends to keep track of if he has to kidnap people so he can have a little company." Beyond said, only half joking. He really didn't know the reason at all as to why he had kidnapped all of those girls. It was painfully clear that it most likely had to do with some creepy hobby, like being a rapist or pedophile. Who would only kidnap women for any other reason? If he wanted to torture people, then kidnapping a male would be just as easy.

What surprised Beyond the most, though, was why this was a problem being taken care of just now. If some of these women had been kidnapped or disappeared over a year ago, then why has it taken so long for someone to pick the case up and start searching for them? L wasn't the only detective in the world, and there were definitely many others just in Tokyo, and probably at least a thousand in Japan itself. And nobody had bothered to pick up such a case? It didn't make sense to him.

And still, there was a constant little worry in his chest. If this man really was a pedophile, and Yuki-Chan wasn't killed immediately, then the chances were not in her favor. He didn't want to think about it, as the thought made him not only uncomfortable, but angry, too. Beyond still was determined to conclude that these were the emotions of a concern _friend_. Large emphasis on the word 'friend'.

The boy scowled. "So you think that we need to visit each of these."

"No, I don't. I'm saying that we have L look into it. Perhaps those are linked with other things that we're unaware of."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He handed Beyond the paper back by basically smashing it into the killer's hands. "Keep this on you. Don't lose it."

"If you're so worried about it being lost, why don't you keep it?" Beyond taunted, purposely trying to get on the kid's nerves.

The boy glared at him with a scoff. "Because you're the one who found it, that's why."

Beyond smirked. He knew he could outdo the boy in everything. Cocky facial expressions were one thing Beyond knew that he could beat the kid to a pulp with. "Fine then, kid, if that's what you want." He folded up the paper and put it back in his pocket. He wasn't going to verbally fight with the kid, but he certainly wasn't going to just bow down and listen to him, either. Just because he had orders from L didn't mean much to Beyond.

The boy eventually started talking again. "So who are you, anyway? How the hell are you involved in this?"

"My, my, such a foul tongue you have, child. For someone of your age, you might as well keep to saying words like 'darn' or 'crap'." He teased, knowing it would anger the boy even more.

"Shut up and answer my question." He snarled.

Beyond chuckled, but answered as told just to talk. "Beyond Birthday."

The boy seemed to pale at the name, as if he recognized it. "Y-you?!"

"So you've heard of me." Beyond sneered. "Not surprising if you've visited Wammy's House."

The boys jaw was dropped open in shock. "_You?_ _You're_ a killer?"

"If by calling me a killer, you mean to imply that I have ended lives before, then yes I am a killer."

The boy looked to be in utter shock. Beyond wasn't about to blame him. He wasn't insulted any. In fact, his reaction was more common than Yuki-Chan's, but that wasn't a hard standard to beat. She did react quite unusually.

"Do you… still kill people?" The boy asked nervously.

"Only when necessary." Beyond said before narrowing his eyes and holding a serious expression. "So when annoying punk brats get on my nerves, it's possible that I'll deem it essential to kill them."

The boy let out a noise that sounded like a weak whimper or something. "O-okay. That's nice to know." He stuttered, his voice shaking a little bit. Beyond was amused at how easy it was to get the kid to change his opinion of the killer just based on a simple fact.

Beyond smirked. "Isn't it?"

"Sir," One of the men suddenly came jogging out, capturing the attention of the bratty girlish looking kid and the killer. "We've found something."

"Well?" The kid asked, raising an eyebrow.

The man handed over a folder full of papers. The boy opened it up and flipped through each individual page, skimming it with his eyes.

"What are these?" The kid muttered.

"Profile pages, it looks like." Beyond reached over and grabbed the folder from the kid's grasp, who made no effort in getting it back. He looked through them, also. There was a very noticeable pattern in each one. "All females between the ages of twelve and twenty-eight, it seems. Some of these are older though, and quite outdated. I suspect the older women are now in their thirties or so." As he looked through, he came across one of the profiles. He immediately took it out and studied the picture of the girl. It was a color picture, like the rest. Her brunette hair was straightened to fall to her shoulder blades. She was staring at the camera with pale grey eyes, but they looked to be so full of life with the genuine smile she wore. It looked to be the most recent school picture she had taken.

Yukio Chi.

He couldn't help it. He just had to read the brief description it had typed up.

Age sixteen; he already knew that. Lived in Tokyo, obviously. Basic schooling, no traumatic experiences. Judging by what information was given, she lived an incredibly boring life. To her, all of this suddenly happening was probably quite overwhelming.

Beyond took a moment to quickly compare himself to her. He was only nineteen, unlike L who was bound to be twenty-two or something like that. Beyond had actually forgotten his actual birthday (oh the irony), so just at the beginning of each year he would raise his age by one. So by now he was probably twenty, actually, but there was no way he could know for sure. He had been raised in the Wammy's house, so that counted as England. His schooling was average for those in Wammy's house, and the worst thing that had happened back then was A's death. He didn't know if killing someone counted at a traumatic experience, so he just didn't add that to the list at all.

"What are you reading?" The boy leaned over to peer at the paper. "What? Why are looking at this one?"

"This is the girl who has most recently been kidnapped. I'm guessing these are the papers of those who Yamada has kidnapped. That is, if he really is the right guy."

"I'm sure he is. All of the evidence points to him." The kid shrugged.

Beyond placed Yuki-Chan's paper back into the folder and slapped it shut. "Well then, let's keep this. Do we have a way of reporting back to L?"

"No, only a distress button." The boy motioned to a device on his belt. There was a tiny red button in the center of a box clipped to the waistband of his pants. "And we're not allowed to use that unless we desperately need help."

"That's odd. Usually L covers every possibility." Beyond mused quietly.

"He has full faith in this team. He knows we won't need to check back in with him every ten minutes like some untrusted teenager."

Beyond smirked. "You're one to talk, kid."

"Excuse me?! You and I both know he trusts me more than you!" The kid shouted despite the fact that they were in talking distance.

"But you're still a teenager. Kids make mistakes and we all know it."

The kid huffed. "Normal teens haven't gone through what I have."

"So? Normal adults don't go through what I have, either, but you don't see me bragging about it."

"That's because you're not supposed to be proud of what you've done!"

Beyond opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted.

"Uh, Boss, we really need to get moving now." Another armed man ran up to stand beside the other one, who was still there for whatever reason. "We've searched the place already."

The kid regained his composure almost immediately. "Good. Then let's get going."

* * *

**Akira's POV**

* * *

Being stuck in a bed every single day wasn't fun at all. He was done with all of the necessary surgeries, so now he was just waiting to heal up enough to leave. The doctors continuously praised him, as if he was some kind of miracle. Others would say that he was a hero for saving Yukio's life. But he wasn't convinced at all. She had still been taken.

Akira gritted his teeth together in frustration. He couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. Like he could've done something else to change the outcome.

Inside of his chest, Akira could feel the bond between him and Yukio being weaker than normal. It was a strange feeling, but it was like their lives were being pulled apart by force, and all that was holding them together were a few thin strands that could easily be snipped in two. The feeling made him restless, and he constantly worried about her.

Yukio had really been his only true friend. When he had moved to Tokyo from America at only age seven, he didn't even know how to speak the language except for a few key terms. He had no idea how to ask for help or even hold a simple conversation. So when Yukio had approached him, saying a simple 'hello' in Japanese, he was quite shocked.

She had introduced her a Yukio Chi, and he had responded in the best Japanese he could pull off by repeating what she had said with the most effort he had. He was grateful that she purposely spoke slowly, and she had been patient with him, like he was a puppy in need of basic training.

Over the next year they grew closer. His Japanese had improved immensely, and in return he had taught Yukio a few English words and phrases, just in case she ever needed to speak English for something.

Akira closed his eyes, wrapping his hands into tight fists. He shook with anger, and his eyes began to burn. Knowing that his best friend was in trouble brought him pain. And the fact that he couldn't even get out of the damn hospital made it worse.

Suddenly there was a gentle knock at the door. He wiped his face of all emotion and opened his eyes, forcing his body to relax. "Come in." He called to the door.

The door slid open, and there stood someone he hadn't expected to see at all.

Light Yagami of all people was standing there.

"L-Light…" Akira stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard what you did for you friend," Light walked in and shut the door behind him. Normally Akira would groan if someone started out the conversation like that, but coming from Light, he didn't seem to mind anymore. "That was quite selfless of you, Akira. I must say, you've got quite the good heart."

Akira couldn't help but feel his heart do a little flip in his chest. For just a momentary instant, he didn't feel burdened with such a great amount of remorse. "R-really?" He stuttered again. Akira immediately mentally kicked himself for letting his words be so loose.

Light smiled and nodded. He was dressed like he just got out of school. He did happen to look quite good in white… "You really are a great person, Akira." Light glanced at a watch on his wrist. "I've got to go already, though. Homework and such. If I get the chance, I'll come back again." With a hand he waved goodbye to Akira and then left the room.

His visit was short, but Akira wasn't complaining.

He let Light's words settle in. Did he really think Akira was a great person? Hearing that from someone as smart as Light made him happy. Now, the only thing that could make his day better was if Yukio was found…

He looked out the window. He was only on the second floor of the hospital, and the window could be opened. Or shattered if it came to that.

There was no way Akira was going to be able to sleep, anyway. Now with Light's words swimming around in his head, and thoughts of Yukio serving as the water, he would only shut his eyes to have images of those two in his mind.

He poked at the bandages gingerly. He was still a little sore, but he had gotten a lot better compared to his condition a few days ago. And Yukio needed his help. He could feel it.

Akira pushed the sheet off of his legs and stood to his feet. He wasn't allowed to walk often unless he had to use the bathroom or something, so his legs were a little shaky at first. But after a few steps forwards, his muscles remembered how to work, and walking went back to feeling a little more natural. He was still stiff, but he was sure that would wear off after a little while.

His clothes were folded on a chair across the room. He went to it and picked up his shirt. It wasn't the same one that he had been shot in. His parents had brought him some clothes when they came to visit him just yesterday. They had apparently been 'too busy' to see him anytime earlier.

He slipped his shirt on, and changed his jeans since they had been worn for more than a day. He left his other pants on the chair, put on his shoes, and then went to open the window.

It took him a moment to figure out how to unlock the thing, but after some trial and error it slid open with ease. He then removed the screen and poked his head out.

The only thing that Akira could step on was the tiny ledge on the bottom of the window. Each window had one, but it wasn't very large at all. Akira could probably survive the two story fall if he slipped, but he certainly wouldn't have a very nice time trying to get up. He would probably break his ankle or something if he fell.

_No, you have to do this, Akira. You're wasting the precious seconds that Yukio has left._

Gripping the ledge with the strongest grip he could manage, he swung himself out of the window. He flipped his hands one at a time so that his fingers were facing towards the room instead of away, and he placed his toes on the wall of the building. It put a lot of strain on his arms, so he didn't let himself hang there for very long.

His feet slowly got lower and lower until they finally found the tiniest lip of the window below him. It was only about as wide as his thumb, but with the surface being there to put weight on, it relieved his arms by quite a lot.

"Okay… now what?" He muttered to himself, looking around as if there would be the answer in the air or something.

"Akira? What do you think you're doing?"

Akira looked down to see Light looking up at him. "Oh, hey Light."

"Again, what are you doing?"

"Uh… well, you see…" Akira trailed off, unsure of how to respond. What was his plan? He had no idea where Yukio even was, so what was he going to do once he got down. "I don't really know." He admitted.

Light sighed with a quiet laugh. "You never cease to amaze me." He held out his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Go on, jump. I'll catch you."

"Huh?! Are you kidding?"

"There's no way you're going to be able to get down from there on your own without getting yourself hurt. Besides, it's not too far of a fall. You'll be fine." Light assured him with a trusting, warm smile.

Akira nibbled on his lip nervously. "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"I won't hurt you?"

"No."

"Okay then…" He hesitated for a brief moment before letting go of the ledge. He launched himself backwards at the best angle he could manage to get while being in midair, and from there he had no other choice but to rely on Light.

In only one second, Akira felt himself crashing into another body. There were no yelps of pain, or no sudden cracks. He felt hands bracing him on his shoulders, and after a moment of stillness, Akira was back on his feet.

He turned around to face Light. "Thanks."

The genius gave him a thumbs up. "No problem. Now, mind explaining just why you have to crawl out of a window instead of just walking out of the door?"

Akira grinned sheepishly and looked down to hide the blush forming on his cheeks. He scratched the back of his hear awkwardly. "Well, you see… I need to know that Yukio is okay. And I'm just as capable to get her back as anyone else."

He heard Light sigh after a moment. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I guess you deserve to know."

Akira looked up, eyes wide. They were already telling secrets? Whoa, that was fast.

"I'm actually working with L, and also a Private Task Force, for the Kira case. We're only supposed to be figuring out who is Kira, but since L has been so distracted with this case, also, I've gotten to hear a few things. They already have people searching for her, and they have leads and everything."

Akira gasped softly. "Really?"

"Yeah. It was supposed to not be heard by anyone outside of the investigation so nobody would interfere, but-"

"We can go and help them!" Akira exclaimed while Light was mid-sentence, excitement overwhelming him. People were actually searching to get his best friend back. Smart, highly trained people at that.

"I don't know, Akira. We don't have the experience on the field that they do."

"But you're a freaking _genius,_ Light! You could easily take better control of the situation so that nobody gets hurt."

Light didn't look as thrilled about the idea as Akira did. "I don't think that's such a great idea."

"Please, Light," Akira begged. "What's there to lose?"

Light sighed again. "Fine. I'll see what I can do. But first we're going to need a plan."

Akira couldn't help but grin. It was the best news he had heard all week.

* * *

**So... What did you think? I know, this chapter isn't all that exciting, but I have a full promise that you will (hopefully) love the next chapter. Most of this was used to make a few more things make better sense or feel whole, rather than just some case with no details. And you learned a little bit of history, too! **

**I have a secret to tell you... You've gotta promise not to tell anyone... Okay, here it is... The next chapter is written up already. Yep, it's the truth. I know, I wanted to post it with this one, but that would be too nice of me. So, I promise, the next chapter WILL be posted on Sunday. Yes, it's only a short wait, but I won't be able to wait much longer myself.  
**

**I feel so ashamed, though. All this time I've been writing for this story, while my other one is in desperate need of a new chapter. But it's just that this one is more fun for me! So if you read my other one, I'm sorry, but that one is probably not going to be updated as soon as I had planned. It's just not as fun anymore to write because I feel that there isn't a goal in it.**

**I also want to give you a quick teaser: In one of the upcoming chapters, there is fluff. Yes, I know, I promised it a while back and it never came, but it will be here soon! You'll just have to wait and see! :D**

**I would like to thank Camisado in particular for your honest critique and advice. Everyone else is awesome, too (as you always have been), but I really appreciate the depth he/she goes into to help me improve. It's nice to strive to make my writing better, so thanks!**

**~BurntPickle**


	12. Sexy Isn't the Only Thing Coming Back

**Told you it would be today ^^ Well, the wait is over, here it is!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.**

* * *

**Akira's POV**

* * *

Akira was extremely ecstatic. At this very moment, he was inside of Light's home, devising a plan on how to get his best friend back.

He was so happy he could barely sit still.

"Okay, so from what I've overheard," Light traced imaginary lines on the map pulled up on his laptop screen with his finger. "The man's name is Hikaru Yamada. I've seen his last name popping up before." Light stood up and walked over to grab a newspaper off of the counter. He flipped it open and turned a few pages, skimming each one briefly. "Yeah, here we go," He placed the paper down on the table and leaned over it to get a better look. "Yamada Storage Company. He must own a bunch of garages somewhere around here if he's got an advertisement for it in this newspaper."

Akira frowned. "I think I know what you're talking about. A few miles from where I live there is this large chain of garages. Every time I pass it, though, there never seems to be anyone there. It's as if the place is abandoned."

"That doesn't make much sense, considering he's paying for an advertisement. Those aren't exactly something you want to pay for if you aren't going to try to attract customers."

"Do you know if he has any other businesses that could bring him some source of income?" Akira asked, trying his best to use better vocabulary so Light wouldn't see him as some idiot.

"None that I know of, which means if he does have some other business, it can't possibly be something so big that he would be able to pay for an entire storage garage business, and advertising on top of that."

"Perhaps he's involved in human trafficking." Akira pointed out. He didn't like that idea at all. The thought of Yukio being sold to some stranger made anger boil up inside of him.

"That's actually quite likely, Akira." Light muttered. He then straightened his back to stand tall. "You know what? I think we need to go and check out these storage garages of his. If you say nobody ever visits there, then there's got to be some other reason that he owns them."

Akira nodded. "You're right."

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

The men surrounded the outside of the site they were just about to search through. Beyond stood beside the boy, still holding onto the folder that had been found.

"I want you all to search through each one thoroughly," The boy commanded. "Make sure you leave nothing covered up."

"Yes sir!" They all barked in unison before heading inside.

"So what do you think they're going to find in a storage garage?" Beyond muttered. "These things look like they haven't been touched in years." He continued, nodding to how many of them had rusted or had large dents in the sides.

"I don't know. L told us to search through them all. He doesn't often give reasons."

The symphony of doors being lifted up and people calling to one another echoed in the air. If they were trying to be stealthy about it, they were doing a terrible job. The noise level was almost unbearable.

"Whoa, what's going on here?"

Beyond turned around when he heard a vaguely familiar voice. Coming up from behind him were two guys; Akira Sato and Light Yagami.

_Kira…_

Beyond wasn't exactly thrilled to see them, but their presence didn't bother him much. What he was more curious about was the reason they were here.

Akira suddenly perked up when he laid eyes on Beyond. "Oh, hey, it's you! I know you!"

Light frowned and stared at Beyond for quite some time. "You look oddly familiar." Kira mumbled.

Beyond smirked. So apparently this Light Yagami guy had seem L before. Either that or he recognized him from TV. Possibly both.

"What are you doing here?" Beyond asked, looking at Akira as the two approached.

"These are Yamada Storage Garages." Light explained. "I've heard that Yukio Chi's kidnapped had the same last name. We thought we'd take a look around to see if there was anything significant here. Since Akira is desperate to get her back, he's convinced me to help out with this."

"I see. But we've already got this under control." The boy turned and glared at the two newcomers. "So you can leave now. Thanks for stopping by, though."

Akira huffed. "We're not going anywhere. As Yukio's friend, I'm obligated to do everything I can to get her back."

"You'll probably be more helpful if you take notes for her in school than if you try to help out here." The boy sneered.

"Hey." Beyond slid his glare to the boy. "I don't know if you know this, but this is the guy that took a bullet for her the day she was kidnapped. In my opinion, I think he's earned himself some respect. Coming from me that's quite the praise."

The boy scowled back and forth from Akira to Beyond. It took him at least a minute to finally give in. "Fine, you can stay. Just try not to mess anything up. Got it?"

Akira grinned. "Awesome."

Beyond was a little skeptical of Kira being there, but he had no reason to reject his presence other than the fact that he was Kira. If this guy knew the name of Yuki-Chan's kidnapper, couldn't he just kill him, or do whatever the heck he does to get rid of people? He knew that Kira needed a name and a face based on the report L had given out a long while back. Yet Light didn't appear to be making any kind of move to try and kill the guy. It was as if he wasn't interested in attempting it at all.

Beyond looked around, surveying the surroundings. This place was on the outskirts of the city, right next to some kind of farm looking place. It had huge open fields that didn't look like they had been tended to in a long time, and a raggedy old barn on the far edge of one of the fields, which was in terrible condition itself. The paint had chipped so much that it looked like someone took a cheese grater to it, and the aluminum roof was bent and warped. Other than the barn and the fields, it was completely bare. It wasn't often that people would leave such space abandoned, especially when it supplied room for the city to grow. Not only that, but having a farm so close to the town was quite unusual.

He frowned and looked over at some of the open storage units. The majority of them looked to be abandoned, except for a few which were only barely filled with a random mixture of objects.

Two large vacant plots of land. Surely someone would've taken care of this stuff by now if they had been empty for as long as they appeared to have been.

"Hey, kid," Beyond turned to face the fourteen-year-old. Maybe he was fifteen or sixteen, now that he looked at him again. "I'm going to go look around inside of some of these. Stay here."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?!"

"Just shut up already." Beyond muttered and started towards one of the open units. He peeked his head inside. It looked to be just few pieces of outdoor hardware, like a shovel, drill, and a rake. Nothing suspicious at all. As he moved on to look at another one, all he found in it was a riding lawnmower, and a lousy one at that. A few more units down he came across a bunch of kitchen utensils in some boxes.

None of it was making any kind of sense. Why were these so organized by purpose? It was as if some clean-freak of a mother decided to shove everything into different garages just to stay systematized.

"Wait a minute." He mutter out loud and stopped walking towards the next one. The way the items were organized resembled some kind of kitchen, it seemed. Like different things were put into different drawers and cabinets to be found only when needed.

Beyond jogged around to stare at the farm again. The one thing it was missing was some kind of cottage for the owner to sleep in, or at least for the old owner if it really was abandoned. Everything that the owner had would've had to been put somewhere.

Yamada owned the storage garages, but it was so organized that it was impossible for it to be open to regular people. Beyond had seen normal storage units before, and many of them were messy and just a bunch of junk. So if Yamada owned an entire Storage Garage Company just to put everything that belonged to him in them, that most likely meant that he had nowhere to stay. If he nowhere to stay yet so much stuff, then he probably wasn't homeless. Homeless people don't have a riding lawnmower just sitting around when it could be sold for money to pay for food.

And one place Beyond knew that didn't have a home to put everything away, such as kitchen utensils, was that little farm over there.

Still, the owner could've just rented an apartment to sleep in, but that didn't explain why all of this stuff was put into separate garages in such a manner.

"Man, who keeps a bed in here? With pillows and everything?" Someone's voice reached Beyond's ears. "This looks just like some kind of bedroom. It's not even dusty."

Beyond nearly flew into that unit. He pushed past the two men that had opened the garage door to look around. Sure enough, it looked quite a lot like a bedroom. Even though it was small, it was better than the cell he had at the asylum, but that wasn't hard to compete with. The unit had a made bed with crisp sheets and a pillow with a pillowcase on it, a candle on a nightstand right beside the bed with an old battery-powered alarm clock, and a dresser. Beyond went over to the dresser and pulled it one of the drawers open after crouching down in front of it. There were a mix of folded shirts, which he took out and looked at. They were all plain with no designs, and many had blood splatters on them.

"What the hell?" One of the men cursed as he walked up behind Beyond. "Who could've put all of this in here like this?"

Beyond stood up, dropping the shirt he held into the drawer carelessly. He walked away, leaving the shirt dangling halfway over the edge of the open drawer. "I've got a pretty good idea." He murmured to himself.

"Hey, Boss, we found a fully loaded icebox!" Someone else called. "It's got beer! Can we have a drink?"

"No." Beyond answered, turning into the unit that was right beside the bedroom one. Of course _it_ was the closest. "There will be no drinking the evidence." He replied before peering into the icebox. It was just a large bathtub, actually, full of ice. Solid ice at that. Not just water. Which meant it had to have been recently replaced. There was cans of beer shoved into the ice, and nothing else.

Beyond left the tub and moved on. There wasn't anything else in that unit.

Suddenly he was hit by a horrid stench. He instantly raised a hand to lift the neck of his shirt to cover his nose and mouth.

There was a series of coughing before three men came running out of a garage a few paces in front of him.

"Oh man that sticks!" One of them couched, doubling over as if he was about to throw up, but he only coughed.

"What's in there?" Beyond asked, struggling not to gag as he could basically _taste_ it.

"Porta-potties, man. Lots of them."

Beyond was reluctant to look inside. But, sure enough, there were at least six blue porta-potties inside. Apparently they had been used. A lot.

He left it quickly and got quite a ways away before finally taking a full breath.

It was just like a house. It had a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen instruments, and a source of hydration. All that was missing was a food storage, which was bound to be somewhere.

"Hey, kid," Beyond walked back up to the boy dressed from head to toe in black leather. "You see that barn over there?" He pointed to the old barn across the field. At the angle they were at, they couldn't see the door.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"We need to search it. Now."

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" The man came storming in, yelling as he did so. I was weary from my lack of sleep, so it took me a total of eleven seconds to actually realize that he was mad about something. Yeah, if it wasn't obvious, I was tired. Very, very tired.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I grumbled, glaring forwards. "I was enjoying the peace and quiet until you came in, you little son of a bitch."

"Shut up!" He screamed, ripping something from his pocket and hurling it at me. I yelped just after it struck the board right beside me head. My gaze went from the pissed off idiot to the knife that was sticking out of the wood. Inches from me head. _Holy shit I almost died._ "Everybody get downstairs, and don't you dare make a single peep!"

I was beginning to – slowly, I might point out – catching on to what he was angry about.

Something had happened, that was easy to tell. And it clearly involved his creepy obsession, or else we wouldn't be being moved. So perhaps there was someone outside. I wanted to get excited, but I was afraid that I was wrong, so I refused to let my hope build up.

"But what if I don't want to?" I asked in an incredibly loud voice. If there really was someone outside, then maybe they would hear me and come to get us. "You're a pervert! _Peeeerrrrrrrrrveeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrt_! Do you hear me, PERVERT?"

"Didn't I already tell you to shut the hell up?!" He snapped as he dug a set of keys from his pocket. He flipped through them as he stood in front of Martha, aka his wife as I had been told about by Alice earlier. His fingers were shaking madly, and he dropped the keys many times in his panic.

"Pervert, pervert, you're a nasty pervert!" I chanted annoying. "P-E-R-V-E-R-T, _peeeeerrrrr_VERT! Yeah!" I was actually, seriously getting into it. Maybe I should've been one of those cheerleaders or something, because I was rocking it right now. Well, to tell the real truth, I was just doing whatever it took to not have a total breakdown. I really didn't want to have any privacy anytime soon because I was afraid of what I might do once nobody was around. _No,_ that doesn't involve anything nasty, you_ pervert_! Other than sane-train, pervert seemed to be my favorite word in the world. Though there wasn't much that could beat the sane-train.

And _this_ is why I need eight hours of sleep every single night. If I don't get it, things like _this_ happen.

"I swear I will rip out your tongue if you don't shut your fucking mouth!" He snapped, still looking for the right key like some idiot.

I spit my tongue out at him tauntingly and made a farting noise with it, spraying spit all over like some disrespectful toddler. Man, I really was getting quite annoying. Maybe he'd have a heart attack from all of the stress that was going on, including me.

"Yukio, you already got a knife thrown at you. Shush!" Alice whisper-shouted at me. I hadn't ever actually gotten an order from her, so I was a little surprised. I concluded that if she was telling me what to do, then I had better do it or else I'd probably screw something up.

Finally he held up one key, and plunged it into the keyhole of one of his wife's chains. Somehow, by unlocking one, it opened the rest. She crumpled to the ground, but quickly began crawling towards the door that was in the wall. It was the one that lead to the basement. I didn't truly understand why it was there, but I wasn't going to question it.

He went around, unlocking each woman with the same key (why did that sound dirty? Maybe _I'm_ a pervert… NO! _NO!_). When he got to me, he hesitated before opening the cuffs. As soon as they opened, I fell to the floor. Apparently I was heavier than I remembered. Maybe because I was so damn tired that even standing was hard.

Alice was released next. She fell hard on her knees, but began making her way towards the door like everyone else. I, however, stayed put. I didn't want to get up and try to make my way down a flight of stairs. I would most definitely trip and land flat on my pretty little face. How could I ever let that happen?

Pfft, yeah right. Pretty little face? Not so much anymore. I hadn't even had a shower in almost a week. I was _dis-gu-sting_. It had to have been pretty bad if I was willing to admit it.

"Come on, hurry up!" The man snarled at me.

"No." I pouted. "I don't want to."

He grumbled and marched over. Instead of grabbing me by the hair and dragging me, he just picked me up by the arms and started hauling me backwards. Of course, I kicked around wildly and screamed as loudly as I could.

"Put me down, put me down, put me down!" I ordered. "I don't like being near nasty perverts!"

"Shut up!" He demanded again.

"No!" I writhed around before finally I was able to get my legs to operate in a way I wanted them to. I kicked my foot up, balancing on my other one, to jam my heel right into the place where it always hurt. I knew I had hit him pretty hard by the way that he whimpered. His grip loosened just enough for me to tug my arms from his grip, and then I tried to kick him down.

But I missed on that attack.

My leg fell limply from an extreme lack of energy. The little fight I put up took quite a toll on me. So instead I just sort of dragged my feet over and smacked him upside the head with my palm, hoping that by some amazing chance I would give him a fatal concussion.

Suddenly there was a loud banging at the door. I looked to it and opened my mouth with a wide smile to say "Come on in", but I never got to before he was able to grab my wrist and shove me in through the open door. I yelped and fell straight on my butt, not moving any further than that. Then he slammed the door shut behind me, leaving us all in pitch black.

Not only that, but it was cold as frozen Hell in here.

So I sat there with my arms wrapped around me, rocking back and forth. Nobody said a word. It was complete, dead silence, as if they didn't _want_ to be found to be found or something.

"So… who wants to sing a song?" I called out into the darkness.

"What song?" Someone else replied.

"Uhh… How about…. Oh, I got it!" I tapped my hand on my leg to establish a beat. "And a-one, and a-two… M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse… Mickey Mouse… Forever let us-"

"Not _that _song! That one's annoying!" Someone else whined. I didn't recognize her voice, but that wasn't a surprising. Not many of them ever spoke at all.

"Oh, fine, whatever. I guess I'll choose a different one then." I thought for a moment for songs that came out that someone else might know. "Anyone know SexyBack? By Justin Timberlake?"

"Ooh, ooh, I do!"

"Then it's settled." I started the new beat by clapping. Soon someone else, who I assumed was the other girl, joined in with me. "_I'm bringing sexy back_." I started. "_Yeah!"_

"_Them other boys don't know how to act_." She sang the next line. "_Yeah!"_

"_I think you're special, what's behind your back? …Yeah!"_

_ "So turn around and I'll pick up the slack… Yeah! Take 'em to the bridge."_

_ "Dirty baaaaaabe," _We sang together. As some people began to recognize the song, they started singing along softly with us.

"_You see these shackles, baby I'm your slaaaaave.  
"I'll let you whip me if I misbehaaaaaaave.  
"It's just that no one makes me feel this waaaay."_ Someone else was doing the 'uh-huh's in there for us, too. I was so happy about how this was turning out.

"_Take 'em to the chorus!" _We all chanted.

"_Come here girl," _I did that part for them, letting the rest of them do the other part._  
Go ahead, be gone with it  
"Come to the back,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it  
"VIP,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it  
"Drinks on me," _We heard a gunshot, and our rhythm stuttered for a moment, but our clapping kept us on track._  
Go ahead, be gone with it  
"Let me see what you're twerking with,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it  
"Look at those hips,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it  
"You make me smile,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it  
"Go ahead child, Go ahead, be gone with it_

"_And get your sexy on,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it._

"_Get your sexy on,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it._

"_Get your sexy ooooon,"  
Go ahead, be gone with it._

"_Get your se-_

Suddenly the door opened, silencing us all immediately. Everyone stopped clapping and nobody sang another word.

The silhouette was tall and thin, standing there holding the door open.

"What… the hell… is going on in here?" A familiar voice asked.

* * *

**Beyond's POV**

* * *

It was dead silence for a moment before a high pitched, excited squeal came from someone nearby. The next this he knew, he was being tackled backwards by someone hurling themselves at him, grabbing him around the knees and using their momentum to push him backwards.

He landed on his back with whoever it way laying on top of him with their arms now wrapped around his neck. He didn't really know how they got from his knees to his neck, but when he finally realized who it was, he didn't actually care.

Her brunette hair was matted all up on her head, some parts clumped together by some dried blood. Her face was buried into his chest, but judging by the way her shoulders were shaking, she was definitely holding back tears or letting them go. Or maybe laughing, but that didn't wouldn't make any sense. And then one more thing...

She was completely naked.

Beyond felt his face warm at that realization. He was stuck there, frozen in shock and surprise. He even felt his breathing stop.

"Uh… hey…" He muttered after a moment.

"You… are late…" She responded back. "So. Fucking. Late."

He gently started to sit up, pushing her up with him. She fell back onto her knees and wiped her eyes with a hand. She didn't even seem to notice that she had no clothes on. She was covered in purplish-brownish bruises and her skin was marked with many cuts that would most likely turn to scars. She looked incredibly pale and skinny, and she had dark bags underneath her eyes.

"Sorry about that." He apologized before tugging off his shirt with his good arm. He then flung it onto her head, letting it land on her face. The white fabric covered up almost her entire face except for one eye that it missed. "Put that on. Please."

She chuckled. "Oh yeah, I am naked, aren't I?"

"Yeah, just a little."

She laughed more as she put his shirt on. She had it on inside out, and even backwards with the tag sticking out towards him, but she didn't appear to be making much of an effort to put it on right. His shirt was quite large on her, with the sleeves falling over her fingertips, and the hem ending in the middle of her thighs.

"Thanks." She mumbled, still smiling. Yuki-Chan looked incredibly exhausted, but somehow she still held the smile that he had missed so. He hadn't even realized how worried he had been until just now, when he finally got the see her in the flesh.

Tears watered her grey eyes, but it was as if she refused to let them fall.

He was silent for a moment. The world was moving around them, but they were sitting there, not moving at all. The other women were being ushered out, and everyone moved around them.

Finally, he asked, "You okay?"

She blinked a few times before lifting the corners of her mouth and nodding twice. Then she went still again, staring at the ground. Her smile then began to drop and she shook her head slowly. "No… I'm not okay…" She lifted her eyes to look into his with the most pitiful he had even been given. And to think it came from someone who had been so witty and strong paralyzed him.

He then reached out with his good arm and pulled her close to him. She didn't even argue, but only leaned into him limply. With his arm around her shoulders, he closed his eyes and stayed silent. Beyond had never been good at comforting someone, since he had never really had to, so he had no idea what to do. Silence was all he could come up with.

He briefly opened his eyes, only to see that hers were shut, and judging by the way her breathing was slow and calm, she was most likely already asleep. With those bags under her eyes, he was sure that she hadn't slept much, or maybe not even at all. He didn't blame her for falling asleep so quickly.

Suddenly Akira walked up and crouched beside his friend. His hand reached up and touched her hair gingerly. He also had tears in his eyes, and he didn't appear to be ashamed of it at all. "Yukio…" He whispered before looking at Beyond. "Is she okay?"

Beyond put on a halfhearted smirk and nodded. "Yeah, she's going to be fine. She's just tired, that's all."

"I bet." Akira agreed quietly. He dropped his hand slowly and looked back at his dreaming friend. "What are they planning to do with Hikaru? I know you shot him and all, but you only shot him in the calf. He's bound to live."

Beyond shrugged the shoulder opposite of which one Yuki-Chan was leaning on. "They'll probably do the same thing they did to me; lock him up and question him until he goes insane."

"He deserves it." Akira added.

"Definitely." Beyond nodded, looking down at Yuki-Chan. Her muscles were still tensed up, but at least she was alive.

* * *

**Yukio's POV**

* * *

I awoke slowly in a warm room. I felt heavy blankets pulled up to my chin. I was curled up in a tight ball, and with a quick glance, I figured out that I was still in Beyond's shirt. It was his white one that was probably two or three sizes too big for me, but I didn't care. It was warm, comfy, and smelt better than I did.

The lights were off. I looked around my room. Everything was familiar to me, and I smiled at the sight of all of my things. I was back home, where I belonged. Not with some creep.

But… I never got to say goodbye to Alice…

I frowned. She had been my friend in that whole thing. She was a nice girl, too.

Although my body was still tired and reluctant to move, I rolled out of bed. I waddled over to my dresser and grabbed some pajama pants and put them on. After a week, my leg hairs had grown out. I wanted to wear shorts, but I wasn't interested in showing off my prickly legs. Besides, I was wasn't interested in showing off any skin anyway.

My stomach suddenly began to complain. I lifted the hem of my skin and scowled at it. "I got it, I got it. No need to remind me that I haven't eaten in an eternity." I dropped the shirt, which fell all the way to my thighs. I'd probably have to give Beyond his shirt back, wouldn't I?

I opened my bedroom door and walked out into the hallway, only to look down at my living room and see that it was decorated like no other.

Large signs were painted with the words 'Welcome home Yukio!' or 'We love you!' were hung up all around. There was a long purple banner draped across the windows, and streamers of every color were tossed around with no real order.

And then there was my mom, still in the midst of putting stuff up.

"Mom?"

She turned around with a smile. "You're finally awake!" She exclaimed.

"Is this… all for me?" I asked as I started down the stairs. My throat tightened, and I couldn't help but smile.

She nodded. "Of course it is, baby."

The only thing that I question was why the one sign said '_we_ love you' instead of '_I_ love you', but I didn't care.

"Really?" I asked, my voice at least two octaves higher than I should've been.

She placed down whatever she was holding (I didn't even bother to look) and came over to the stairs and began climbing. "Who else would it be for?"

I shook my head, unable to contain the smile that creased my face. "I don't know." I admitted just as my vision blurred with hot tears that I couldn't keep in. They spilt over my cheeks, and before I knew it, I was getting an extremely tight hug from my mom. A hug that I had missed so much.

I sobbed into her shoulder. These were tears that were a mix of happiness and sadness. I didn't know how to feel about what had happened, but I didn't even care to try and figure them out. I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I just had to cry. Even if it was in front of my mom.

And then there was the soft adorable mew and something twirling around my legs. I looked down to see my little Lego purring up at me with large eyes.

"Aww, you're being nice, too?" I bent down and scooped the little black kitten up the cradle in my arms. He purred loudly as ever, and nuzzled my neck with his tiny wet nose. "I have never felt so loved in my entire life."

"Well then you should call Akira and see just how loved you can be." My mom chuckled.

I gasped. "Akira! Oh my God, he's ALIVE?!" I squealed and sprinted down the rest of the stairs with Lego still in my arms. I lunged to the phone and snatched it out of its charger. It wasn't my cell phone, so I didn't have his number on speed dial, but I had in memorized so that didn't matter.

"Of course I am. I wouldn't let just that simple bullet kill me."

I frowned down at the phone. I hadn't even called him yet. And how did he-

"Oh crap!" I yelped and nearly dropped Lego as arms enveloped me in a hug that put the best sweaters to shame. As soon as I realized I wasn't being attacked, I squealed again. "You're alive! Oh my God, _you're alive!"_

I held Lego in one arm and hugged Akira back with the other. "Thank you, Akira." I said, still crying my eyes out. "I'll totally host the next five movie marathons we have, okay? I'll pay for food, drinks, new DVDs of the Lion King, and everything else you can think of."

He laughed happily and patted my back. "There's no need. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

That only made me cry harder.

I sniffled and pulled away, unable to quit smiling. The fact that they were all here, setting all of this crap up just for me made my heart swell with joy. I was seriously shaking with happiness, which I didn't even know how that was possible. After all that had happened, it was this little small celebration that made me feel so much better.

I glanced over at the counter to check the time. Yeah, it was noon somehow. I didn't know when I got back, but I didn't really care.

And then there was a closed jar of strawberry jam sitting on the counter.

"Where's that one?" I asked, pointing at the jar with the phone. I used the heel of my hand to wipe off some of the remaining tears on my cheeks.

"That's a jar of jam, Yukio." Akira explained. "It's right there."

"No, I meant Beyond. Strawberry jam equals Beyond."

"Oh! Well, to tell the truth, I don't know where he went. After we got back a few days ago-"

I nearly choked on the air I was breathing. "Wait, you're telling me that I've been asleep for _days_?!"

"Yeah. Two to be exact. We were all afraid that you had gone into a coma or something. The first day you had been in the hospital, just in case, but they let you come home after you were patched up some. Still, you didn't wake up."

I puffed up my cheek and blew the air out of them in a large sigh. "I'm quite the heavy sleeper. Anyway, continue."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, anyway, Beyond had stayed here until the sun set the day you got back, and then he left, and we haven't seen him since."

I frowned and looked down at the shirt I was wearing. "Really? That's odd."

Akira shrugged. "We told him to stay here in case you woke up in the middle of the night, but he left anyway."

"But what am I supposed to do with his shirt?" I said, only half joking. I looked up at him at if he had the answer.

He snorted. "I don't know, wear it? That's normally what people do with shirts."

"But… it doesn't even belong to me." I said, tugging at one of the sleeves with my fingers. "And it's way too big."

"Oh stop your complaining." Akira teased and tousled my hair, which had yet to be washed. There was a lot I needed to do, come to think of it. Like eating.

With that thought, I pranced over to the fridge happily. "I have every right to complain and you know it." I replied snidely while throwing open the fridge door. I was greeting by a gentle puff of cool air, and the first thing I saw and grabbed was a bag of purple colored grapes, which I immediately ripped over and began devouring. Grapes weren't my favorite thing in the world, but I couldn't even taste them at the speed I was eating at, so it didn't matter. I could've been nasty meatloaf for all I cared.

I turned and shut the fridge by bouncing my hip against it. I had my cheeks shoved full with the little round grapes, and it was actually hard to swallow, like I was going to choke on them, but after some serious chewing and effort, I was able to breathe again.

Akira grabbed my wrist and held it in front of my face just as I was about to breathe in another round of grapes. "_Slow down_. You're going to throw up if you shove your stomach full all of the sudden."

I pursed my lips before sticking my head out and eating the closest grape to me.

"Watch me." I muttered with a smirk, using my other hand to pry his fingers off of my wrist. His grip was incredibly tight, so my efforts were kind of useless, but eventually he just let go.

I hoisted myself up to sit on one of the counters just as my mom came in.

"So, Yukio, did you sleep alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I feel a little bit better now that I've gotten so much sleep."

She smiled. "I'm glad. But I'm sure you're hungry. Those grapes won't fill you up completely. So why don't I go get you something to eat?"

I beamed. "Can it be McDonalds?"

She laughed. "Sure."

I had never been a big fan of their greasy food, and I was sure that I wasn't good for me to be eating fast food after not eating at all for so long, but I still didn't care (lately I didn't care about a lot of things, huh?). I needed the calories anyway.

"What would you like?" She asked, grabbing her purse off of the table and slinging it over her shoulder.

"A whole bunch of chicken nuggets. And at least three large fries. With some root beer, too. A lot of it."

"Alright then." She laughed. "Akira, do you want anything?"

"I'll just pick off of Yukio's fries." He replied.

"Oh no you won't. I will eat every last grain of salt. Every. Last. One." I said.

He just rolled his eyes with a grin. "Fine then, I'll just take a burger."

* * *

The day was amazing. It was full of happiness, joy, and relief. Of course, I wasn't feeling completely better, but at least I wasn't stuck in a little ball of depression. That would suck.

However, I was bothered by the lack of Beyond. I remembered that he was the one who I saw first, but after I somehow fell asleep on him, I hadn't seen or heard from him since. Not even a simple 'hello' or anything.

The sun had set, and I was already exhausted. I sat slumped forwards on my bed, scrolling through old texts on my phone. Yeah, apparently that one kid that took my laptop, Mello was his name I think, had dropped off both my laptop and my phone while I was passed out for the past two days. I was thrilled to have them back and all, but… I couldn't even look at my laptop. It still was a little sticky from Beyond's strawberry-jam-covered hands that had once touched it.

I smiled softly at the memory. I had no idea what I was getting into just one week ago. Back then, I had no idea he would throw himself out of a window of a moving car. I still didn't know the true reason for that.

I hated to admit it, but I sort of missed him. Having him around had been… interesting, for lack of a better word. He was unpredictable, but he would never get angry at me for insulting him. There was nothing I actually ever could say to him to make him just a tiny-bit pissed at me. Yeah, I had the same relationship with Akira, but we would insult each other to not mean harm. When I would say something to Beyond, I meant it.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I wanted to know where he went and why.

Earlier I had taken a shower, so I had left his shirt sitting on the floor of my room and changed into my own shirt. I still had yet to put it into the laundry basket to be washed. Part of me didn't want to, like washing the shirt would change it in some way.

I let out an airy laugh at my own stupidity. It was just a shirt, one that didn't even belong to me.

So then… Why was I somewhat attached to it?

I shook my head and pressed a hand to my forehead, rubbing the skin in slow circles. Why couldn't I just settle with the fact that he has disappeared and it shouldn't bother me? He was a psycho for crying out loud! I shouldn't care where he gets hit by a bus or not! In fact, shouldn't I be happy he was gone?

No matter how many times I tried to tell myself this, I still was a little upset about his disappearance. Call me crazy, but maybe we could be considered friends now or something along those lines. I mean, it's not like we were _best_ friends or anything, but since he didn't kill me the first chance he got and I didn't report him ever, I guess that probably established the base of this 'friendship'.

I sighed and turned the flop down on my back with my head hitting the pillow. I folded my hands behind my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Last time I had slept, I didn't have any dreams at all. Or at least none of which that I could remember. So I had no idea what to expect when I fell asleep. Nightmares? The chances were high that I would have one. Probably about recent events. I didn't even want to think about those horrible days, much less dream about them, where I would have no control over what happened.

But, still, as I continued to think to myself about many other topics, my eyes slowly began to drift shut. I didn't even notice my eyes were shut until I felt myself fading into sleep.

* * *

**Yay, she's back! About time, right? I was bored of her being chained to a wall, anyway. ****  
**

**As promised, this chapter is here! And after getting such great feedback from everyone, I was even more excited to post this. You guys make me feel _proud_ of what I write, which feels kind of nice considering I rarely let people see anything I scribble down, even if it's just a short little story.**

**My break is now over, sadly, but the good news is that I got more than half of the next chapter finished within the last few days, which means that maybe, just maybe, I can convince myself to stop writing this story all the time and give my other one some attention. **

**Comments and critique are encouraged, as always :) Let me know if you see anything wrong with this chapter so I can fix it or make sure I don't do it again in later chapters. **

**~BurntPickle**


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